Chances
by LiveLifeLoveLaughing
Summary: Eliza is just a normal student at Hogwarts, or as normal as one can be when you're best friends with the Weasley twins. She is facing her sixth year, a year full of learning, mystery, death, hurt and perhaps love?
1. Of Friends and Feasts

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything, except my OC's and my plot (this counts for the whole story)**

* * *

Eliza Weber hurried through the Hogwarts Express, looking for her two best friends. When she reached their usual compartment, they weren't there yet, so she sat down and watched all the students saying goodbye to their families on the platform.

She scanned the crowd, looking for redheads but didn't find them. She took out her book and started off reading where she had left. It wasn't until she could feel the train starting to move that she looked up from the pages.

They still weren't there. She decided that if they weren't with her in the next five minutes, she would go looking for them.

Two minutes later two redheaded boys rushed in the compartment. They looked bewildered, as if they had only reached the train just on time. One of them closed the door and they looked at Eliza for the first time.

"Well, if it isn't the little Miss Weber!" the boy on the right said.

"She has changed a lot over the summer, don't you think so Fred?"

"Yes, I quite agree with you, brother. She has grown rather quiet, hasn't said a word to us yet!"

"Not even complaining about our rushing in – "

"—or our loud talking –"

"—or our first prank of our sixth year!"

"Yes, she has changed a lot since we last saw her."

"Okay, okay, you can stop now!" a laughing Eliza said.

"Oh! She has found her tongue!" Fred exclaimed, mocking an incredulous expression.

Eliza playfully glared at him and said:

"I'm just going to forget everything you guys just said. Let's start again: Hi George, hi Fred! Had a nice summer?"

"Why, hello Eliza! Our summer was quite delightful indeed, wasn't it Fred?"

"Yes. Yes it was! Especially those six weeks we weren't forced to hang out with a certain black-haired girl..."

"Fred! If you're going to be that way, I will leave you two to it and find Angelina, Alicia and Grace!"

"Come on El, you know he didn't mean it."

"Fine, fine, I'll stay."

"Great! Now tell us, what did you do during the holidays?"

"Err... I saved my sister from Joe, the terrible step-father... tried to talk some sense into my mother and ran away to my dad's place when I thought I tormented Joe enough. In short, the same as always. What about you?"

"We played Quidditch, invented some new sweets for WWW and sent letters to Ludo Bagman. How bad was your stepfather this time?"

"Absolutely horrendous! He didn't even let me touch my broom! And little Belle wasn't allowed to make any noise! She is five years old! Five year old girls just make some noise while they are playing. And my mother didn't even do anything! She just nodded on occasions."

"Aw, we're very sorry!"

"Thanks, but is isn't your fault."

"You could've just stayed at our house for some more weeks, until you had to go to your dad's"

"And leave Belle alone? I wouldn't do that! And besides, Joe is the perfect victim to some of my pranks..."

"Ah, do tell us all about it Eliza!"

And with that Eliza began to tell her best friends, Fred and George Weasley, about the time she set her stepfathers alarm clock two hours early, together with the rest of the clocks in the house so he was way too early for his job and had to wait an hour outside the building.

Or the time she baked cookies with her sister and put salt instead of sugar in a few of them, and made sure that those were the ones their stepdad ate.

"It was just hilarious! Mum, Belle and I just ate the cookies and Mum told us a few times how good they tasted and he just spit his first bite out and said that those were the most awful cookies he had ever tasted. And then Belle began to cry, saying that he was only saying that to make her feel bad, because she, my mother and I did like the cookies. I think that was one of the only times I ever saw my mum getting angry at him!"

"Sounds bloody brilliant El", George smiled at her. She had lately begun to get a funny feeling whenever George smiled at her. She talked about it with Grace, her best girl friend, and she told her it was obvious that she liked George. And as more than just friends. Eliza just laughed it off then, and she still didn't believe it now. It was just some weird feeling, it didn't even mean anything.

"What are you thinking about Eliza?" asked Fred.

"O nothing... just wondering about the big secret my dad wouldn't tell me about!" Eliza saved herself.

"Yes, our parents en brothers knew something, too, and they didn't even tell us!" George exclaimed.

"It has to be something exciting, even Percy said he was looking forward to it," added Fred.

"Ah well, we probably won't figure it out till we're at school so tell me more about your summer!" Eliza said.

The boys continued to tell her about the many pranks they pulled during the vacation and about the Quidditch World Cup. When they heard some familiar voices, Eliza stood and opened the door.

"Grace! Alicia! Angelina! It's so nice to see you again! How was your summer? Grace, you have actually gotten some colour!"

"Ha-ha. That's what you get when you go to Greece for two months!"

"No fair!" pouted Alicia "I got stuck at my grandparent's house for the whole summer."

After the girls greeted Fred and George, they played a few rounds of Exploding Snap before Eliza and George decided that they wanted to play wizards chess.

"I am sooooo going to win! I even won from my brother Ron once this summer, and he is like the King of Chess!"

"That may be, but I'm the Queen of Chess and I haven't ever played him, so you don't know who's better."

"True. One of these days you are playing against Ron!"

"Fine, fine... it is my turn, isn't it?"

"Yes, stay focused, will you!"

After a while of playing, Eliza suddenly said: "Checkmate!"

"Ah man! And I thought I could win this game."

"Bad luck mate, bad luck," consoled Fred "but nobody has ever won from Eliza so don't take this too hard on yourself."

"No, you're right."

* * *

It started to get dark, so the girls shooed the twins out of their compartment and changed into their Hogwarts robes. After the boys got back, they waited for the train to come to a stop and then they stepped out on the platform. They walked to the horseless carriages and with a bit of squeezing they all fit in one.

"I can see Hogwarts already!" Angelina said, who was the closest to the window.

"Finally! We haven't seen Lee yet, and I'm starving!" Fred said.

"You guys are always starving" Eliza teased.

"That's not true! I'm pretty full for about an hour after the feast."

Luckily the carriage arrived at the castle before Eliza could think of a witty reply so they stepped outside, in the rain.

"Ugh! I hate rain!" Grace complained.

"Quit whining. _Subsisto pluviae_." Eliza waved her wand above Grace and herself.

"What did you do? I'm not becoming wet anymore!"

"I just used a simple rain-stopping spell. We learned it in Charms last year, remember?"

"Err... sure."

"How you've gotten an 'E' on your Charms O.W.L. I will never know." Eliza sighed.

By this time they had reached the doors, so they went inside. Eliza hadn't put the spell off, and she was glad she didn't, for Peeves the poltergeist was throwing around water balloons.

Slipping and gliding, the six went into the Great Hall.

* * *

"How come you two are completely dry?" Angelina asked wide-eyed.

"Eliza used some genius spell!" Grace answered cheerful.

"And you couldn't have used it on us? Now we're soaked!" Fred complained.

"I'm sorry! I thought you guys would've thought to use some spell yourself."

"Well, obviously we didn't. We're not the smart Ravenclaws here." George said.

Eliza blushed and murmured some incoherent things.

"Well, we're off to our table!" Grace said as she grabbed Eliza's arm and dragged her over to the Ravenclaws. Eliza and Grace talked some more about their summer, but they hushed when Professor McGonagall walked in with the new first years.

"Grace! That boy has Hagrid's coat on! What do you think has happened?"

But before Grace could answer, the Sorting Hat began its song:

_'A thousand years or more ago,_  
_When I was newly sewn,_  
_There lived four wizards of renown,_  
_Whose names are still well known:_  
_Bold Gryffindor, from wild moor,_  
_Fair Ravenclaw, from glen,_  
_Sweet Hufflepuff, from valley broad,_  
_Shrewd Slytherin, from fen._  
_They shared a wish, a hope, a dream,_  
_They hatched a daring plan_  
_To educate young sorcerers_  
_Thus Hogwarts School began._  
_Now each of these four founders_  
_Formed their own house, for each_  
_Did value different virtues_  
_In the ones they had to teach._  
_By Gryffindor, the bravest were_  
_Prized far beyond the rest;_  
_For Ravenclaw, the cleverest_  
_Would always be the best;_  
_For Hufflepuff, hard workers were_  
_Most worthy of admission;_  
_And power-hungry Slytherin_  
_Loved those of great ambition._  
_While still alive they did divide_  
_Their favourites from the throng,_  
_Yet how to pick the worthy ones_  
_When they were dead and gone?_  
_'Twas Gryffindor who found the way,_  
_He whipped me off his head_  
_The founders put some brains in me_  
_So I could choose instead!_  
_Now slip me snug about your ears,_  
_I've never been yet wrong,_  
_I'll have a look inside your mind_  
_And tell where you belong!' _

Everybody in the Great Hall applauded when the Sorting Hat quit singing.

Professor McGonagall read the names of the new first years one by one so they could get Sorted into their appropriate House. Eliza and Grace clapped and cheered every time one of them went into their House. After the Sorting, Eliza hoped that the food would come soon, 'cause she was famished.

Unfortunately, the Headmaster, Professor Dumbledore, stood to say some words. Eliza hoped they would be few.

"I have only two words to say to you," he said. _Thank Merlin!_ Eliza thought as Dumbledore finished with: _"Tuck in."_

Suddenly there were all kinds of dishes on the table, and Grace and Eliza happily obliged Professor Dumbledore's words.

After they had had desert, they talked with the Grey Lady, the ghost of Ravenclaw. She never talked about her life or how she died, but she did know all the gossip of the castle, so Grace and one of their dorm mates, Carmen, really enjoyed talking to her. They always wanted to know all the gossip there was to know.

Suddenly Dumbledore got to his feet again, and everyone fell silent almost immediately.

"So! Now that we are all fed and watered, I must once more ask for your attention, while I give out a few notices."

Great! Eliza thought, he sounds like it's going to take ages before we can finally go to sleep.

"Mr. Filch, the caretaker, has asked me to tell you that the list of objects forbidden inside the castle has this year been extended to include Screaming Yo-yos, Fanged Frisbees and Ever-Bashing Boomerangs. The full list comprises some four hundred and thirty-seven items, I believe, and can be viewed in Mr. Filch's office, if anybody would like to check it."

Eliza could swear she saw Dumbledore smile a little, but she looked over at George and Fred so she couldn't be sure. She caught their eyes, and they shared a knowing look. She knew that they, along with Lee, were responsible for at least the Screaming Yo-yos. Ah, good times! But Dumbledore's speech continued.

"As ever, I would like to remind you all that the Forest in the grounds is out-of-bounds to students, as is the village of Hogsmeade to all below third year. It is also my painful duty to inform you that the inter-house Quidditch Cup will not take place this year."

"What!" Eliza complained, "But I was so looking forward to crushing Gryffindor this year!" She looked over at the twins, to see how they were coping, but she only saw them mouthing words, apparently without being able to actually

speak them. She felt sorry for them, Quidditch was a big part of their life. They were the Beaters in the Gryffindor team, just as Eliza was Chaser for the Ravenclaw team. She loved Quidditch almost as much as the twins, so she wasn't happy with Dumbledore's announcement either. But he still wasn't done with his speech.

"This is due to an event that will be starting in October, and continuing throughout the school year, taking up much of the teachers' time and energy – but I am sure you will all enjoy it immensely. I have great pleasure in announcing that this year at Hogwarts – "

Suddenly the doors of the Great Hall opened loudly and in came a very strange looking man. He walked towards Dumbledore in between the tables and because of the lightning on the ceiling of the Hall, Eliza could see a man with only one real leg and one real eye. The other was large and a vivid blue and was continually moving – creepy. When the man reached Professor Dumbledore he shook his hand, whispered something and sat at the teachers' table.

"May I introduce our new Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher, Professor Moody," said Dumbledore. Eliza hadn't even noticed there was one teacher missing. The DADA teachers never stayed longer than a year, nobody knew why. It was as if the job was cursed.

Only Dumbledore and Hagrid applauded for Moody, so they quickly stopped.

Dumbledore cleared his throat and talked further

"As I was saying, we are to have the honour of hosting a very exciting event over the coming months, an event which has not been held for over a century. It is my very great pleasure to inform you that the Triwizard Tournament will be taking place at Hogwarts this year."

"You're JOKING!" someone said loudly, and Eliza recognized him as Fred. Eliza laughed at this, just as many others and even Dumbledore chuckled.

"I am not joking, Mr. Weasley. Though, now you mention it, I did hear an excellent one over the summer about a troll, a hag and a leprechaun who all go into a bar – "

Professor McGonagall cleared her throat and Dumbledore immediately began explaining what the Triwizard Tournament was.

Eliza was absolutely stunned. She had heard about a Triwizard Tournament before from her dad, and he had told her it was incredibly dangerous, they had quit the Tournament after some students got killed during it. Eliza decided to listen to Dumbledore again, maybe he said something she didn't know already.

"The Heads of Beauxbatons and Durmstrang will be arriving with their short-listed contenders in October, and the selection of the three champions will take place at Hallowe'en. An impartial judge will decide which students are most worthy to compete for the Triwizard Cup, the glory of their school and a thousand Galleons personal prize money."

This excited some students for they began whispering. Eliza didn't think so much money could compensate the death toll, but they were all caught by the spirit of the glory.

"Eager though I know all of you will be to bring the Triwizard Cup to Hogwarts, the Heads of the participating schools, along with the Ministry of Magic, have agreed to impose an age restriction on contenders this year. Only students who are of age – that is to say, seventeen years of older – will be allowed to put forward their names for consideration. This" – Dumbledore raised his voice slightly, for several people had made noises of outrage at these words, and the Weasley twins were suddenly looking furious – "is a measure we feel is necessary, given that the Tournament tasks will still be difficult and dangerous, whatever precautions we take, and it is highly unlikely that students below sixth and seventh year will be able to cope with them. I will personally be ensuring that no underage student hoodwinks our impartial judge into making them Hogwarts champion. I therefore beg you not to waste your time submitting yourself if you are under seventeen."

Well, Eliza thought, at least they put on an age restriction. She still thought it was dangerous, but students who are of age were most likely to be able to survive.

"The delegations from Beauxbatons and Durmstrang will be arriving in October, and remaining with us for the greater part of this year. I know that you will all extend every courtesy to our foreign guests while they are with us, and will give your whole-hearted support to the Hogwarts champion when he or she is selected. And now, it is late, and I know how important it is to you all to be alert and rested as you enter your lessons tomorrow morning. Bedtime! Chop chop!"

* * *

Grace, Eliza and Carmen stood up and began walking towards the door, but Eliza wanted to talk to Lee, George and Fred before going to the dormitories and Grace, as a prefect, had to take the new first years with her. So Eliza bade Grace and Carmen goodnight and made a beeline to the Gryffindor table, where only Fred, George, their brother Ron and two of his friends were left. Eliza arrived just in time to hear George say:

"They can't do that! We're seventeen in April, why can't we have a shot?"

"They're not stopping me entering", said Fred, looking determined. "The champions'll get to do all sorts of stuff you'd never be allowed to do normally. And a thousand Galleons prize money!"

"I don't think you'd have a lot of use for the money if you're _dead_!" Eliza entered the conversation.

"Of course we wouldn't die El! You have to have some more faith in us!" George said laughingly while looking at her. Eliza looked back, and knew she had to have a serious conversation with them as soon as possible, but right now she was too tired.

"I'm going to bed, but we will talk about this tomorrow! Understood?" She glared at the twins for good measure and turned to leave the Great Hall.

She was somewhere between fifth and sixth floor when the others reached her. Fred and George then walked with her till their parting point.

"You know, we've been best friends for the past five, almost six years, and we still don't know where the Ravenclaw dormitories are!" exclaimed Fred, looking affronted.

"Well, I will show you some time. But on the condition that you won't tell anyone about it and won't pull pranks on its inhabitants. At least not without me knowing. Deal?" whispered Eliza.

"Alright!" replied George. "You already know where our dormitories are, don't you?"

"Yes I do," Eliza laughed, "and I'm surprised that you, who claim to know all of Hogwarts, admit to something you don't know!"

"As soon as you have told us, we do know everything there is to know of the castle," said Fred.

"Sure. I'm leaving you two to it now. Good night!"

"Goodnight and – "

"—sweet dreams to –"

"—you too!" they said together. Though Eliza knew they did this often, to annoy people, she still wasn't completely used to it. With a wave, she turned, ducked through a tapestry with a hidden corridor and walked to Ravenclaw Tower.

_

* * *

_

When she arrived at its entrance, she knocked with the knocker and it asked:

_"What has 21 eyes but cannot see?"_

"A dice," answered Eliza sleepily, wondering why it didn't ask something harder.

"Correct!" it said and swung open to the Ravenclaw Common Room. The room was very light and open during the day, but when it was dark there were suddenly hundreds of stars shining in the ceiling and walls. Eliza always loved to watch them, and seek out constellations, but right now she was too tired so she walked through the room.

She saw her favourite blue-and-bronze fauteuil and the words 'knowledge is power' written in bronze above the fireplace. She smiled and walked to the girls' stairs. The highest dormitory had belonged to her year for the past five years, so she ascended the stairs and walked in. After she had unpacked her trunk she followed the example of her dorm mates and stepped in bed.

The second her head hit the pillow, she was fast asleep.

* * *

**A/N: Hello everyone! I've been writing this story for quite some time now, and I finally posted the first chapter :) I have more chapters written after this one, so I'll probably update again within a week, if I'm not too busy with school and all...  
Anyway, I'd love a review! If you have any ideas how to make this better, please say them! I like constructive criticism :)  
I would like to thank my 5 friends, who have proofread this and encouraged me :P So, thank you!  
Have a great week!  
'~M M~'**


	2. Of Classes and Conversations

The next morning Grace woke Eliza up, and after they had both taken a shower and were dressed, they went to the Great Hall for breakfast. Eliza was relieved when they finally reached the bottom of the great stairs, because Grace complained about the school uniforms the whole way.

When they arrived at the Great Hall they saw Fred, George and Lee waving them over, so they walked towards their table.

"Good morning!" greeted Grace cheeringly.

"A very good – "

"—morning to – "

"—you too!"

Fred and George were taking turns talking again, knowing that it freaked Grace out.

"Grace, how can you be so bloody happy so early in the morning?" asked Lee groggily.

"I don't know! It's a gift."

"Well, keep that bloody 'gift' of yours down when I'm not completely awake yet, okay?"

"Fine, fine."

* * *

While they were eating their breakfast, Professor McGonagall, who was the Head of Gryffindor House, came by to conjure the schedules of the twins and Lee.

"So, Mr Jordan... Transfiguration, Defence Against the Dark Arts, Muggle Studies and Ancient Runes?"

"Yes Professor."

"Your 'E' on Ancient Runes was really unexpected, or at least, that's what Professor Babbling told me."

"I had some help studying, Professor," a blushing Lee said, looking at Eliza.

"Ah, so that's why. Miss Weber, best Ancient Runes student! But you and Miss Lions should go to your table, Professor Flitwick is also giving out schedules."

Eliza blushed at her comment, and waited for Grace to finish her breakfast before they could go the other Ravenclaws.

"Mr Weasley and Mr Weasley. Both of you have three O.W.L.'s... Potions, Charms and Defence Against the Dark Arts. I take it you will do those classes, but I highly recommend you talking to a few  
teachers, do some extra work and take Herbology or Astronomy or something else. I thought you had gotten high marks on those subjects?"

"Yes Professor."

"We will try to get into Herbology and Divination."

"Alright, I'll see to it."

After she gave them their schedules she went further to some fourth years.

"Wicked! We've got Charms and DADA with the Ravenclaws!"

"And Potions is with all the houses. There aren't many who get an 'O' for that one."

"Well, we'll be getting our schedules. See you guys later!"

With that Grace and Eliza left, to get their schedules. They sat down next to Carmen and waited for Professor Flitwick. After he was done with Carmen, it was Grace's turn.

"Miss Lions. From the nine subjects you have taken last year, you only failed in one, like a true Ravenclaw. So do you want to continue the other eight?"

"Yes Professor. But I didn't get an 'O' on Potions so I will have to drop that one. I do want to take Transfiguration, Charms, DADA, Herbology, Divination and Muggle Studies."

"Alright. Here is your schedule! Now, Miss Weber... Nine O.W.L.'s! You make me proud of my house! I expect you want to follow through with Transfiguration, Charms, Ancient Runes and Potions? All 'O's! Which from the other subjects do you want to take?"

An uncomfortable Eliza answered with: "DADA and Arithmancy, please."

"That won't be a problem. Here you go!"

"Thank you."

Grace and Eliza compared their schedules. They were the same, except that Eliza had Potions, Ancient Runes and Arithmancy when Grace had Herbology, Divination and Muggle Studies.

"So, shall we go to DADA?"

"We shall," replied Eliza grinning.

They met the twins and Lee on their way there, and continued talking about their vacation, until the subject of the Triwizard Tournament was brought on, and George said:

"Fred, Lee and I decided to use an Ageing Potion to get past that age restriction."

Eliza immediately became worried again, so as to not voice her worries, she tried to think of something else until they reached the DADA classroom.

They had to wait for Professor Moody, but then they could enter and seek out a place.

Eliza and Grace sat next to each other, with Fred and George behind them and Lee and Alicia behind them.

* * *

The lesson wasn't one like they had before. Professor Moody, alias Mad-Eye Moody, was an ex-Auror and wanted to teach them about the Unforgivable Curses. Of course they had heard about them before, but he actually demonstrated them on spiders. Eliza felt bad for them, and dreaded the moment he was going to use the Imperiatus-curse on his students.

She could tell that the twins were very enthusiastic about him but she had her doubts, which Grace shared. After DADA, Lee and Eliza went to Ancient Runes and the others to Herbology. George talked to her about entering Herbology, and she agreed with him and gave him some last-minute information about plants.

The Ancient Runes classroom was right next to the Great Hall, so they all went to the Entrance Hall where they parted. The others went outside, while Lee and Eliza found a place in the classroom.

They sat next to each other in the middle of the room. Professor Babbling came in and looked at the students. There were only twelve of them.

"Hmmm, not many people dared to take N.E.W.T.-level Runes, I see. Well, this year we are going to do a lot more translation projects in pairs. Most of the translations will take place during the lesson. If you and your partner are unable to finish the assignment in the given time, it will be homework. I want everyone to seek a partner right now, preferably someone from a different House."

"Ehm Professor?" a boy from Eliza's House said, "there are seven Ravenclaws, so that isn't going to work."

"Right, that's why I said _'preferably'._ Now, partner up please!"

Lee looked at Eliza and asked: "Be my partner?"

"Of course!"

"Thanks," Lee looked relieved, "I apologise in advance for my terrible translations."

"You're not that bad. If you want, we can spend some time outside the lesson on translations, since we probably don't have homework very often."

The rest of the lesson was spend at revising all that they had learnt in past years, and they didn't get any homework, as predicted. Eliza and Lee walked to the Great Hall, happy with the no-homework lesson and yearning for lunch.

"Do you want to sit with me at the Ravenclaw table for a change? The others will see us when they come in."

"Okay," nodded Lee and they sat at the table. Eliza grabbed some toast and pumpkin juice, and listened to Lee's ideas for new pranks this year. She was laughing when Grace, George and Fred arrived. George looked at her and smiled.

"You look really cute when you're laughing." Eliza got a weird feeling when George said that, which she tried to ignore.

Everyone gaped at him, including a red-faced Eliza and he blushed, but his brother saved him.

"Yes, I think so too. Don't you, Lee?"

"Sure," a confused Lee said, "really cute."

"Boys! Stop it! Eliza doesn't want to be called 'cute'!" Grace glared at the boys, before taking on another subject. "So, how was Runes?"

Eliza and Lee exchanged a look, at which George looked unhappy but Eliza pretended not to notice.

"Professor Babbling is bloody brilliant!"

"We won't have much homework this year, because we will translate as much as possible in the lessons," gloated Lee.

"Lucky bastards", grumbled Fred. "Professor Sprout took us in at Herbology, but we will have to work very hard to keep up!"

"I already told you guys that I would help you out," Grace rolled her eyes.

The rest of the lunch was spent with conversation about the twins' plans for their joke shop, and afterwards Grace and Lee left for Muggle Studies and Eliza and the twins went outside to the lake, as they had a free period.

* * *

"Double DADA _and _Double Herbology first thing on Mondays sure isn't something I enjoy," sighed Fred, as he plopped down under a tree. The other two followed his example and sat down.

"So, you wanted to have a serious conversation with us, El?" George recalled.

"Yes. About the Triwizard Tournament." Eliza was really careful with what she said, because she wanted the boys to understand her point.

"Are you completely sure you want to enter? People have died in this Tournament! And I don't want to have to worry about you for a whole year!"

"Relax Eliza," laughed Fred, "we won't die. And you don't have to worry about us you know."

"How could I not? You two are my best friends! I don't want you to die or get hurt!" Eliza was beginning to get angry now, and she could feel tears stinging in her eyes. , she thought and tried to look more determined.

I'm not going to cry

It looked as if Fred didn't know what to say anymore, and George, who had been rather silent during this conversation, didn't look talkative, either. Eliza decided to use her last trick.

"Look," Eliza sighed, "do you guys remember my birthday?"

"Of course, October 27th you'll be 17," George answered her, still with a faraway look in his eyes.

"Yes. And do you know what that means?" Eliza was beginning to get impatient. How long would it take for them to get it?

"It means, that I will be able to enter the Tournament, as I'll be of age before Halloween." And with that she left the boys flabbergasted.

* * *

**A/N: Hi again! I tried to update yesterday, but I just didn't have enough time, so sorry about that! Anyway, how do you like this chapter? Do you think Eliza will enter her name in the Tournament? Do you think she should?  
I have already planned out a couple of chapters, but I would love to hear your thoughts. So please review!**

**I will update again within a week, so keep reading :)**


	3. Of Findings and Fights

Eliza wandered through the castle, angry at her best friends. Why didn't they understand the dangers of the Tournament? It seemed as if the only things they could think about were the glory and the money. She hoped that they would have considered her words when she saw them again at Charms.

While Eliza was busy thinking of ways to bribe the twins in not trying to enter, she had walked on to the seventh floor. She tried to think of ways to calm herself, and paced back and forth before some ugly tapestry. All of a sudden a door appeared, out of nowhere! Eliza jumped back and looked at it fearfully. Should she try to open it?

After some debating with herself, she hesitantly walked towards it and tried to see if it would open. It opened, so Eliza took a deep breath and stepped in.

What she saw was a beautiful room, wide and open. It had lots of windows, which looked out on a sea. That's when Eliza knew there was something wrong, because Hogwarts wasn't even _near_ the sea. She walked towards a comfy-looking bench and sat down. She had only just wished she had brought something to read with her, when filled bookshelves appeared on the walls.

Stunned, Eliza walked towards them and saw there were a lot of her favourite books. She grabbed one and sat down again to read. When her free period was over, she felt a lot calmer and decided she wanted to go back to this place some time again.

So she walked out, memorised the place, and watched the door fade away in the wall. Still wondering about the strange room, Eliza made her way downstairs, to Charms.

* * *

Eliza found that she was one of the first ones there, so she sat down at her favourite spot, right at the window. Grace sat next to Carmen, at the other end of the room. She probably had some new gossip she just _had _to tell Carmen.

When more students began coming in and Eliza still hadn't seen George and Fred, she became worried. However, right before the final bell rang, they came barrelling in. She saw them looking around at empty spots next to each other. She looked around herself, too, and saw that the only empty places were right next to her, next to Angelina or next to a Slytherin.

As soon as the twins realised this too, the made a mad dash for the chair next to her. George won and Fred sat next to Angelina, sulking.

Angelina was known for making many mistakes during Charms. Last year, she made all the pillows they were practicing with, explode! Everyone was covered in feathers. So Eliza understood why Fred didn't want to sit next to Angelina, but she was strangely happy that George would be her partner for at least this lesson.

"Alright class! I am happy to see that so many of you have survived your Charms' O.W.L. so for this first lesson we will just revise some spells you have learnt last year. So everyone, you may begin with the Summoning spell and the Colouring spell. I have lots of pillows on my desk to start Summoning them!" said Professor Flitwick.

Eliza smiled at George and they said _'accio'_ at the same time.

Two pillows came floating to the air towards their table and gently hovered before them. Eliza lowered her pillow and tried to think of a nice colour. She saw that George had made his already a bright purple so to match his one, she changed her pillow's colour to lavender.

* * *

Unfortunately, Fred and George didn't have Transfiguration anymore, so Eliza had to wait for Grace to walk with her to Transfiguration.

"I never asked, what did you get on your Transfiguration O.W.L.?" Grace asked her, as they ascended the marble staircase.

"An 'O', just like you. I actually didn't think the exam went that well, so I was surprised when I saw my mark…"

"O yes, I remember you saying you had answered at least half of the questions wrong or incomplete," Grace mocked.

"Oh, shut it! We can't all be naturals at Transfiguration like you, you know," Eliza responded.

With that the two girls walked into the classroom and sat down for their lesson.

* * *

Later that day, Eliza and Grace walked towards the Great Hall for dinner. They were fairly early, as their essay for Transfiguration proved to be quite easy. However, before they could enter the Hall, Fred and George appeared and dragged Eliza off.

"Sorry Grace! We'll give her back later!" George called back, looking over his shoulder.

Grace watched them go, laughing and shaking her head before she went in to eat.

* * *

"What do you two think you're doing?" Eliza asked the boys calmly.

"We have to talk to you," Fred said seriously.

"We have thought about what you said, and we can see your point," George added.

"Yes, we don't want you to enter, because it is so dangerous –"

" – but that would be quite hypocritical of us," George continued.

"Yes, it would be! If I want to enter, I will!" Eliza said heatedly.

"So you really wish to enter the Tournament?" Fred asked her, sadly.

"Maybe…. But that's not the point! Don't you understand that I will be constantly worried if you enter? Or Lee, of course."

"Yes, we understand where you're coming from. But we really need the money El, for our joke shop. And the fame wouldn't be so bad either…" George replied dreamily.

"You seriously want to risk your life for a thousand Galleons?" an incredulous Eliza asked.

"Well…. You've had enough money all your life, you don't know what it is to be… _poor._" At this, both George's and Fred's ears became pink. Eliza knew this was a hard subject to them, so she decided not to press the point any further.

"You know what, this way we're never going to come to an agreement. I won't complain about your entering anymore if you two don't say anything about me entering or not entering. I'm not completely sure about that yet… Besides, Dumbledore is a very powerful wizard, I'll bet you don't even get the chance to enter, since you'll be only sixteen then."

"We'll see about that. But we agree with you. So, shall we head to dinner then?"

"Good idea, I'm starving!"

The three friends headed to the Great Hall for their late dinner.

* * *

**A/N: Hi again! First of all, I would like to thank everyone who reviewed! Lily Orange, owhappyday and MOR21 THANK YOU!  
I hope you liked this chapter, even though it is a bit short... What did you think of the conversation between Fred, George and Eliza?  
Please review! I'd love to hear your thoughts!**


	4. Of Plans and Potions

School went on for a few weeks or so with nothing worth mentioning. Just normal lessons, homework, missing Quidditch and colouring the robes of the Slytherins during breakfast.

One Wednesday morning, Eliza walked into the Common Room to see a new notice hanging by the Lost and Found notes. It made mention of Apparition lesson's, for anyone who would turn seventeen that school year. Basically, all of the sixth years.

Eliza signed her name, and hoped that she would be good enough to pass the exam the first time. Because her birthday was so early, she would have little time before she could undergo the exam. But, she reasoned, if she didn't make it, she could always just try again with the next load.

Having noticed that all of her Ravenclaw friends were already gone, Eliza hurried downstairs. On her way to the Great Hall, she thought about how much she missed flying, and suddenly she got a great idea. She all but ran the rest of the way and plopped down at the red and gold table.

"Good morning," George greeted her

"Did you sleep well?" Fred asked.

"G'morning to you too! And I slept well, thanks for asking. Now, I have something to tell you..."

"Oh, I know that look!" Lee exclaimed, "She's got one of her ideas again."

"You sure? Last time she had one, we ended up jumping in the Lake... in _Februari_," Fred reminded them, shivering as he did so.

"I know, I know. But this time it's really good!"

"Well, spit it out girl! Don't leave us waiting!"

With that, Eliza bent towards them, the boys following her example so they could speak without being overheard.

"I thought that, since we all miss Quidditch, we could hold a little game ourselves! You know, just as we did at the Burrow, but this time we could ask some more kids to play... We could even make this a little tournament! Not with the House Teams, but self-made ones! What do you think?"

None of the boys answered, and she began to grow anxious. Was her idea really that stupid? She had thought they would jump at the chance to fly again, but apparently not.

Finally, Lee could say something.

"That, Eliza, is the most brilliant, genius, fantastic idea you've ever had!"

Fred and George now said their approvals as well and Eliza beamed.

"Thanks you guys! We will discuss this later, okay? I've got Arithmancy now, so I've got to go! See you at Potions George, Fred!"

* * *

After a particularly hard Arithmancy lesson, Eliza hurried through the corridors on her way to Potions. She kept wondering about the Tournament, and worrying about the twins and Lee.

She knew they wouldn't be good enough to win the Tournament, you had to know a lot of spells to make it. They didn't even have Transfiguration, or in Lee's case, Charms!

Eliza knew she was overreacting, they would actually have a pretty good shot at winning, but she was concerned about their well-being. Once again, she calmed herself by thinking about the magic Dumbledore was sure to do to make sure no underage wizards or witches could enter.

She reached the rest of the class in the dungeons and went to stand by Grace and the twins. She was just in time to hear Fred say:

"I hope Snape will let us pick our own partners this year."

"The chance of that is almost... nothing," Eliza replied, shocking them all.

"Merlin's pants El! Could you give us a warning next time you're sneaking up on us?" a startled George exclaimed.

"Nope, this is way too much fun!" Eliza laughed and soon Grace joined her.

"I'm convinced Snape will let us choose partners this year," Fred said confidently. "Want to bet Eliza?"

"Sure! How much?"

"Hmmm, two Galleons?"

"That's okay."

"You're going _down_ Eliza!"

"No, I'm not!"

Grace interrupted their bickering by stating that they had to go in the classroom to avoid being they late. Once inside, they sat as far to the back as possible. Eliza and Grace next to each other and George and Fred behind them.

"Settle down class," Snape said. As always, he could make a whole room silent just with his presence.

"I am surprised so many of you have reached the 'O' level for potions. From... _some people_, I didn't expect it."

Was that Eliza's imagination, or flickered his eyes to her and Grace? But they had always been quite good at Potions... He must have been looking at Fred and George, she decided. They aren't known for doing much work, but they are absolute naturals at Potions!

"This year we are going to be making a lot more complicated Potions. Therefore, I will let you choose your own partner, but –"

But his next words were lost in the talking that ensued at once.

"Ha! Pay up Eliza!" she heard Fred whisper triumphantly behind her. _Dear Circe,_ she thought, _why did I bet again?_

"Quiet! I wasn't finished yet. I said you could choose your own partners, _but_ they have to be from the opposite sex."

"That's sexism!" Eliza heard some boy to her left yell. Snape just ignored him. All around them, people were trying to find Potion partners. She and Grace turned around to look at Fred and George.

"At least we don't have that much trouble," Grace said satisfied, "we can just go with each other!"

Fred and George looked at each other and Eliza thought they had some silent conversation. The next moment Fred announced that he would go with Grace and that George would be Eliza's partner.

For some reason, George looked rather flushed, but he made room for Eliza at his table nonetheless. Eliza was pleased that George was her partner, and not one of those cruel Slytherin boys...

"Alright class! I see you have all partnered up. If this doesn't work, I'll give everyone new partners, so pay attention! The Potion we will start brewing today is called the Babbling Beverage. Now, who has heard of this Potion and knows what it does?"

Almost at once, Grace' hand shot up, which Snape furiously ignored. Eliza and Grace had very early on noticed that he didn't want anyone other than Slytherins to give the right answer, and since Ravenclaws were known for their intelligence...

Finally, he could no longer ignore her, so he said:

"Fine. Miss Lions?"

"A Babbling Beverage causes the person who drinks it to talk utter nonsense."

"And did you take that literally from '_Advanced Potion Making'_?" Snape sneered, probably angry that he couldn't find anything wrong with Grace' answer. Grace turned her head a bit, so Eliza could see her expression. She looked embarrassed and Eliza was even madder at Snape than before. How dare he say that to her best friend? There was nothing wrong with her answer!

Eliza kept cursing Snape in her head, until it was time to begin with the potions.

"Could you get the ingredients? Then I'll put on the fire. I don't trust you with that anymore..." joked George, but Eliza knew he was serious. Three years ago, she had accidentally set her own hair on fire, and when George tried to help her, his robes caught on fire too.

He came off with a few minor burns, but Eliza's hair was burnt off on a few places, and Joe thought it would be a good idea to let it heal the 'normal way'. His words, that meant the Muggle way. So she could 'learn her lesson'. As if she hadn't learned that lesson when George got hurt! She promised herself she would try not to come near fire ever again. Of course, sometimes she had to, but she tried to avoid it as much as possible.

So Eliza scurried off to get the ingredients for the Babbling Beverage while George lit the cauldron.

When she came back, he was already skimming through the steps described in the book.

Together, their potion wasn't half bad. It was supposed to be red, but Eliza found theirs more of a deep pink-ish. When Snape came by, he didn't make any remarks, but he did take 5 points from both

Grace and Fred. Eliza didn't understand why, for their potion was perfectly red, but apparently it was for 'laziness'. _Suuuuuuuure!_ Eliza thought, _he just takes on the little reasons he can find to dock points from Gryffindor, and Ravenclaw. _

After everyone had put some of their potions in a flacon and put them on Snape's desk, Eliza made to walk out of the room, but then she saw Fred and George both taking some of their potions with them.

"What's that for?" she hissed, and George almost dropped his flask.

"Merlin Eliza! What did I tell you about startling people?"

"We're only going to use this for an innocent prank..." Fred said.

"Since when are your pranks innocent? Anyway, if you put some in Cho Chang's drink, I'll owe you one."

"You're just as devious as we are, aren't you?" George grinned, "But you know you already owe Fred two Galleons... What did that Chang girl ever do to you?"

"Yes, I know. And she is just some giggling, full of herself, empty-headed attention seeker! You know Cedric Diggory almost asked me out last year –"

George choked and Fred looked at him concerned, but Eliza ignored it.

"—she purposely tripped and fell in his arms! Not that I'm so fond of Diggory, but –"

Now they both looked relieved. What's the matter with those boys today?

"—but, it was just nice knowing that one of, scratch that, _the _most popular boy at Hogwarts wanted to ask _me _out. Me! Plain Eliza."

"You're not plain." Fred protested, shaking his head.

"No," George agreed, "you're very pretty, and smart."

Eliza blushed from the compliments, but for some unknown reason George blushed, too.  
_  
Hmmm, weird._ Eliza thought, before hurrying to Ancient Runes.

* * *

**A/N: So... sorry for the wait! I forgot to get this up in the weekend :(  
Thank you, owhappyday, for reviewing! As you can see, I changed the title to 'Chances' because I didn't like the previous one...  
You probably don't want to know about my life, but I had a very difficult Latin translation today! It was one of Cicero's texts and my translation is terrible :( I just didn't get it...  
Anyway, please review!**


	5. Of Awkwardness and Amusement

Lee and Eliza were dismissed a bit earlier than the rest of the class, because they had already finished the work set for the day. So they sat at the Gryffindor table, and discussed possible people for their little Quidditch game.

Soon Grace, Fred and George collapsed on the benches, George next to Eliza and the other two at the other side.

"That was such a tiring class!" moaned George. Eliza thought he looked way too red and flushed, so she checked his forehead.

"You're burning! You should go to Madam Pomfrey!" she exclaimed, concerned.

"You're overreacting, El! It was just a hard lesson," George tried to laugh it off.

Eliza was still concerned, but decided to let the subject rest and resumed her conversation with Lee.

"So, I thought we could ask Angelina, Alicia, Katie and Harry from Gryffindor's team, together with Fred and George of course. Then they only need a Keeper. You will be in my team, with Carmen, Cho, Ginny, Ron... and then we only need one Beater!"

"Wait," Fred interrupted, "when did you ask Ron and Ginny?"

"This morning," Eliza replied, "they were both very eager to play."

Suddenly, she got an idea.

"I'll be right back!" she yelled over her shoulder while she hurried to the Hufflepuffs.

"Cedric!"

"Hi Eliza. What are you doing here?" he asked her, stunned.

"Ehm... I wanted to ask you if you would be interested in playing Beater in my team. We're holding a little Quidditch match..."

"I would love to! When's the game?"

"Probably this Saturday, but I will let you know."

"Alright."

"Thanks. Bye!" with that, Eliza walked back to her friends, who were all looking at her, baffled looks on their faces.

"Are you alright, guys?" she laughed, ruffling George's hair as she sat down. That seemed to take him out of his shocked state and he began eating again.

"I didn't know you and Cedric were such friends," a jealous-looking Grace said. "You could introduce me! I want to get to know him better."

"Well, we aren't good friends. I just thought he might like a Quidditch game, that's all," Eliza shrugged.

* * *

After their lunch, they all had a free period, so Lee and Grace went to the library to do some Muggle Studies homework and the other three wandered through the corridors.

Suddenly, Peeves appeared. Eliza and George ducked on time, having experience with the poltergeist, but Fred was too late. Peeves flew off, a soaked Fred behind him.

"That was... interesting," Eliza brought out, between her laughs.

"Yes," George said weakly.

Eliza wasn't used to George sounding like that, so she looked up at him concerned.

He was completely white, and he seemed to be trembling.

"George! I'm taking you to the Hospital Wing, now!"

George tried to protest, but he wasn't strong enough, so he let Eliza lead him to the Hospital Wing. Half way there, he couldn't walk anymore, so Eliza made him lean on her.

She was almost as tall as he was, her eyes were level with his nose, so he didn't have to bend while walking. When they arrived, Eliza placed him on an empty bed and called for Madam Pomfrey. The nurse came immediately and examined George.

"Yes, you have a fever. You might have caught the flu, so I'm keeping you here for at least this period."

She scurried off, just to come back with a lot of potions. George had to swallow a lot of them, and then she was gone again. Eliza, having experience with the foul taste of the healing potions, sat by George's bed and asked him how he felt.

"Better, I guess. Thank you for bringing me here El. I wouldn't have made it here otherwise."

"O, shush! You're my best friend, of course I would take you to the Hospital Wing if you felt ill!"

"Thanks El. But ehm... can you please tell me about you and Cedric?" George looked at her so seriously, that Eliza didn't dare laughing.

"Me and Cedric? I mean, Cedric and me? There is nothing to tell you about. We aren't even friends, just acquaintances, I thought you knew that!" Eliza was bewildered by this question.

"O, okay," George said, and closed his eyes. In just a few moment, he was asleep.

Eliza looked at him and sighed. George and Fred had always been her best friends, but why did she feel so awkward around George all of a sudden? And did she get these weird feelings whenever he smiled at her? And what about his question of Cedric?  
_  
It just makes no sense,_ Eliza thought, _boys are so confusing._

That was her last thought before she, too, fell asleep.

* * *

She woke again probably an hour later. She wasn't sitting in the chair anymore, she was actually laying in the bed. With George!  
_  
Luckily he's still asleep,_ she thought, and bit her lip. _How am I getting out of this?_

She didn't want to wake George, but he had his arms around her waist so she couldn't get up.

Just then, George opened his eyes.

"Good morning sunshine," he yawned, rubbing his eyes. "What are you doing in the boys' dormitory?"

"This isn't the boys' dormitory, we are in the Hospital Wing," Eliza told him, embarrassed, "and I have no idea why I'm in your bed"

"You know, that really sounds weird," George said, and then blushed. Eliza blushed, too. She probably thought the same thing as George. Strangely, she didn't mind laying with him. It felt kind of... nice.

"I woke up about half an hour ago, and I saw you sleeping uncomfortably in that chair, so I decided to make you more comfortable by pulling you in the bed."

"Oh. Ehm, thanks," Eliza said, still a bit pink.

"No problem," George replied awkwardly. "When is our next class actually?"

"In fifteen minutes, so we've got some time."

"Great, 'cause I'm actually pretty comfy..."

"Yeah, me too."

* * *

They stayed in the bed for another ten minutes, but then they asked Madam Pomfrey if George was allowed to go, since he felt much better. She gave her permission, so they headed to DADA.

George and Eliza didn't talk very much and there were some awkward silences. Eliza hated that, but she just felt a bit awkward around him now. They had slept in the same bed, for Circe's sake!

Luckily they had arrived at the classroom by then, so they walked inside and sat somewhere in the middle.

"Good afternoon class!," Professor Moody said cheerful, "Today I'm testing the Imperius-curse on... you!"  
_  
Oh, no_, Eliza thought, _he's going to invade my mind! I've always learned that my mind is a private place... But I don't know enough to block him.  
_

* * *

**A/N: Hi! I'm sorry I didn't put this up a few days ago, I just didn't have the time... But now I do, because I'm very ill. I feel terrible! :( Fever, headache, throatache and I was very dizzy this morning :'(  
I finally gathered enough courage to leave my comfy bed :) I hope I feel good enough to go to school tomorrow...  
Anyway, remember that Latin contest? I didn't win, fortunately! But I had translated better than I thought :P  
I want to thank all my reviewers, and everyone who put me on alert/favourites!  
Please, REVIEW!**


	6. Of Broomsticks and Birthdays

Professor Moody let the children form a line, and he placed the Imperius-curse on them, one by one. Eliza hated it, watching her classmates do things they normally wouldn't have. She was in front of her closest friends, so when it was her turn, Grace, George, Fred and Lee hadn't been cursed yet.

She stood in front of Moody and he pointed his wand at her. She felt more than heard George shift anxiously behind her.

"I will be fine!" she hissed to him, keeping her eyes on the Professor's wand. When she looked in his eyes, she thought she saw something swift quickly, but that could just have been his weird eye.

Finally, the dreaded word was spoken: "_Imperio!"_

Eliza immediately felt some force trying to get into her mind. She didn't know what she was supposed to do, so she tried to push it away with her thoughts. Like a bad radio signal, she heard some words: Eliza thought. She had used all her mental energy by trying to push the strange voice away so she had none left. Tired of resisting, she gave in and felt her body stand on her hands. It was a feat she normally couldn't do and she vaguely thought it weird, but the strange voice lulled her again.

"Stand... your hands... Stand on... hands... on your hands... Stand on your hands..."

Alright,

After a while, the curse seemed to have lost it strength and it was as if Eliza woke up from a weird half-dream. Professor Moody seemed deep in thoughts, but he gestured for her to move along nonetheless.

While Eliza watched, immensely concerned for her friends, she saw George skipping through the room, whistling, Fred singing a terrible song and Grace jumping over everything she could reach. But Lee was the worst. Apparently, he had to kiss as many girls as possible.

Moody probably thought that would be funny. However, it wasn't that much fun for the girls. He kissed Alicia the longest, and when she finally managed to push him off, she looked furious. Lee even tried to kiss Eliza, but luckily George stood next to her, the spell having worn off, so he pushed Lee away. Eliza didn't look at him, but she felt his eyes staring at her.

Finally, class was dismissed, and everyone talked about the interesting lesson.

* * *

That Saturday, the improvised Quidditch match was going to take place. Eliza was the captain of her team, so after her pep talk they walked on the field with their brooms.

"Alright everyone! Seeing as this isn't a real match, we aren't wearing our Quidditch robes. Now, to make sure everyone sees their team members, Eliza will turn your robes a particular colour, okay Eliza?" Fred asked. Eliza nodded and turned the robes of her team purple, and those of the other team red.

"Do the colours have a meaning?"

"Yes, you only have Gryffindor players, so red would be obvious. We have Gryffindors, Ravenclaws and a Hufflepuff so I mixed the three colours. The yellow isn't very noticeable though..." Eliza frowned, looking at her work.

"It's fine Eliza," George assured her, "shall we just go play?"

Fred's team won, with a difference of a hundred points. Eliza wasn't fazed though, she knew her team wasn't as well tuned into each other as the other one. She just let it slide, and enjoyed the feelings of having flown again.

* * *

Weeks went by. Eliza and her friends were really busy with their homework, they used their free periods and sometimes their afternoons and evenings.

Somewhere mid-October, there was a huge crowd gathered in front of the Entrance Hall because of a large sign at the foot of the marble staircase.

"What do you reckon it says?" Fred asked Eliza, trying to see over the heads of the other students.

"I don't know. Maybe George knows?" she asked, just as their friend came walking over.

"Eliza! Fred! The people from Beauxbatons and Durmstrang are arriving at 6 o'clock on Friday the 30th."

"Really? But that's only a week away!" Fred gleefully said, probably thinking about entering the Tournament again.

"Yes, and our last lesson that day will end half an hour early. Then we are required to bring our books and bags to our dormitories and after that we are 'to assemble in front of the castle to greet our guests.'"

"Sounds good!" Eliza said, "I wonder what the students from those schools will be like..."

"They're probably really nice. Now, are we going to eat breakfast?"

* * *

That Tuesday, October 27th, was Eliza's birthday. She was up very early, before her friends, and went downstairs. She received a gift from her dad via owl. Eliza didn't know what to expect, because the letter said that her dad had shrunk the gift, otherwise it would be too big for one owl to carry.

After tearing off the paper she saw a new broom, a Nimbus 2001. Extremely happy she wrote a thank-you letter to her father, and sent the owl away.

Her mother and sister's gift had arrived by normal mail, since her stepfather was against all magic. Eliza didn't know why, and had long ago decided to just leave him be.

She read the letter first, obviously written by her mother, and then opened the package. In it were a few books she really wanted to read. Actually the only thing her stepfather really encouraged her in doing, was reading Muggle books. She didn't mind that, of course, since she liked reading very much.

After writing her mother and stepfather a letter back, she opened her sister's package. In it were a drawing, a short letter and a box full of cookies. She read her little sister's letter, in which she explained that she had made the drawing and the cookies all by herself.

It was signed with a messy _Happy birthday sis, Belle._ Eliza smiled fondly at the drawing. It was meant to resemble herself with Belle, baking cookies. Eliza tried one of the cookies Belle had sent her, and found they tasted really good.

After writing Belle, too, a short reply she stood up and made to walk out of the Great Hall. However, before she had reached the doors, Professor Flitwick stopped her.

"Miss Weber! Just a moment please."

"Yes Professor?"

"Someone sent this to the castle, I believe it is a gift. Oh, and happy birthday!"

"Thank you," Eliza said and watched the little teacher walk away.

Once she had opened the gift, she saw a book filled with sheet music for the harp.

Wondering who knew that she played the harp from time to time, Eliza left the room with all her presents, walking up to her dormitory.

On her way there, she ran into the twins and Lee, who were heading towards the general direction of the Ravenclaw Tower.

"Happy birthday Eliza!" they all chorused. After they had hugged her, Eliza thanked them and asked if they wanted to walk with her to the Ravenclaw Tower.

"Of course! We haven't been there before."

She lead them towards the eagle knocker. Once she had knocked it, it's voice echoed through the corridor.  
_  
'Is the future set in stone?'  
_  
"Don't you have a password?" George asked Eliza confused.

"No, we don't. This way we learn even by entering our common room. And, as you know, knowledge is power."

"Yes, I've heard that one before. Aren't you going to answer the question?" Fred asked.

"Does one of you know an answer?"

Once they had all shook their heads 'no', Eliza thought about the answer.

"No, not completely. With every choice we make, our future changes. But I think the biggest 'line' through our lives _is _set in stone, just not the smaller ones." Fred, George and Lee looked at her in astonishment.  
_  
"Well thought-out,"_ the eagle said, and opened its entrance.  
_  
"Wow!"_ the boys gaped at the room.

"It's so light! And open!"

"Yes, I think it is beautiful, too," Eliza smiled, "but you should really see the room at night, then there are glowing stars in the ceiling."

"Sounds cool." Lee said, still looking around.

"I'm just going to bring my stuff upstairs, okay?" Eliza said, already halfway up the stairs to her dormitory.

"Wait, let me help you carr – " George said while he was walking up the stairs, but a loud sound interrupted his sentence and the stairs changed into a slide. George tried to keep standing, but it was pointless and he slid down in a heap.

Eliza however, had tried to sit down when she heard the sound, because she knew what would be happening, but hadn't succeeded. Because she had her arms full with her presents, she couldn't stay balanced on the slide, so she fell down with a yell.

She waited for the impact to come with closed eyes, but only felt two strong arms catching her and then falling down with her. Eliza opened her eyes and saw George lying underneath her.

"Oh Circe!" Eliza cried out, "I'm so sorry George! Did I hurt you?"

"No, of course not," George chuckled, "you're not _that _heavy you know. Anyway, I couldn't let the birthday girl fall now, could I?"

"Yes, thank you for catching me. I'm ehm... standing up now I guess." After she and George were standing and had checked to make sure there were no injuries, Eliza looked for her presents, only to find out that Fred had taken them and was looking through them now.

"Eliza, pray tell, why did you get a mini-broomstick?" Fred asked her, looking rather puzzled as he was trying to figure her still-mini-Nimbus 2001 out.

"Because, dear Fred, it is less heavy to carry around. Here, let me restore it to size. _Engorgio. _There, just a normal broom now."

"Did you get a Nimbus 2001?" Lee gaped, "From whom?"  
"My dad," Eliza replied, "he works at the ministry, at the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, and he has some friends at the Department of Magical Games and Sports, so he is sometimes able to buy brooms for less money. He even once brought a Firebolt with him! He said he had to test it for his friends, but he let me fly on it most of the time." Eliza day-dreamed about the wonderful feeling of flying on the best broomstick there was, but she was awoken by Fred.

"Did your sister draw this? What's it supposed to be?" Fred laughed.

"Yes she did. And that's me and that's Belle," Eliza said firmly. She didn't like people making fun of her little sister.

"It's really beautiful El," George smiled at her. _The funny feeling once again_, Eliza thought.

"Why don't you bring your stuff up and then we can give you our presents at breakfast?"

And that's what they did. Eliza's friends sung _'Happy Birthday' _for her and gave her their presents. She got new Chaser-gloves from Alicia and Angelina, a big box with all her favourite sweets from Honeydukes from Lee, a book with useful spells from Grace and a book on pranks from Fred and George, as well as samples from their first joke-shop to be products.

After Eliza had thanked them profusely they all went their ways.

* * *

**A/N: Hi! I'm finally feeling better again :) I went back to school and all... Anyway, next week is our break and the week after that we have a LONG testweek so I don't think I'll be ablo to update then... But next week should work :)  
Thanks to my reviewer, Lobo de Fuego, and everyone who alerted/favourited!  
And please, please, PLEASE review! ;)  
Have a good day!**


	7. Of Musings and Magic

Because she had two free periods first thing, Eliza decided to look for that nice room on the seventh floor again. Once she arrived, she tried to remember what she had done the last time when the door appeared.

She paced back and forth, this time thinking about her new harp book, and after three times the door appeared. Eliza opened it eagerly, expecting it to be the same room as the first time. But it was not. The decor was the same, but there was a harp added.

Just as Eliza wanted to step into the room, she heard a voice calling her. She looked behind her and saw Ginny Weasley, Fred and George's little sister. She was now in her third year, and Eliza saw her a lot during the holidays when she visited The Burrow, the Weasley's home.

Because Ginny's the only girl, Eliza slept in her room, since a few years also with Hermione Granger, because she was a friend of Ron's. They usually talked a bit before they went to sleep, and so Eliza knew all about Ginny's crush on Harry Potter, and Ginny knew about Eliza's playing the harp in secret.

"Eliza! There you are! I wanted to wish you a happy birthday but I couldn't find you!"

"Thanks Gin. I'm sorry, I just found this room and I wanted to spend my free period in here..."

"Oh, that's fine. I just wanted to ask what you thought about my gift. I wrote to my parents and they ordered a music book."

"So that's yours! I'm really touched Ginny, you know how much I love playing."

"Yes, that's true. Well, the gift is a shared one from my parents and me." By now, Ginny had approached Eliza and could now see the just appeared room.

"There's a harp in there! Could you please play something for me, Eliza?" Ginny almost begged. She had told Eliza a few times that she would love to hear her play, but it was a bit hard for them to find a harp.

"Ehm, all right. Come in." Eliza wasn't sure about this, she usually didn't like it when people listened to her playing the harp, but Ginny was almost like a sister...

She sat down by the harp and tried to play the first music piece out her book, but it wasn´t very good.

"I'm sorry Ginny. I just have to practice this a few more times, and then it will go much better!"

"O, I don't mind," Ginny laughed from her spot on the couch, "but if you want, could you play some music you _have _practiced a lot?"

"Of course."

Eliza played a few of her favourite songs, until it was time for their next period.

"Bye El! I really enjoyed listening to you!"

"Thank you," Eliza blushed a bit, "but we should definitely talk some time soon. I want to know what you think about the Tournament and other stuff... Harry Potter in particular."

Now it was Ginny's turn to blush. As she was a Weasley, her blush began at her ears and then spread out to the rest of her face. Eliza always thought about this as a cute trait, so she smiled at her almost-sister before she ran away to her next class.

* * *

After lessons that day, Grace and Eliza took Fred, George and Lee with them to their common room once more. This time, the riddle was easier:  
_  
'What Muggle thing alternates between red, orange and green lights?'  
_  
Well, it was simple to Eliza and Lee at least. Fred and George just looked incredibly confused, Grace had probably heard of it during Muggle Studies and Lee was muggleborn, just like Eliza's mother.

"The honour is all yours," Eliza told Lee, with a mock bow and a flourish gesture.

"Thank you, m'lady," he bowed back. "It's a traffic light!"

"Well done, for a Gryffindor," was the eagle's answer and it opened.

Grace went upstairs to grab some homework she should have done earlier, and Eliza went to retrieve her new broomstick. She and the boys were planning to fly around a bit, and Grace could do her homework in the stands.

* * *

The rest of the week, Eliza noticed that every teacher was prone to showing Hogwarts off to the other two schools. The whole castle was being cleaned thoroughly, and the teachers reprimanded slow students much easier.

She also saw Fred and George sitting apart a few times, whispering with each other while bended over a parchment. It hurt her that they didn't include her in whatever it was, so she decided to confront them as soon as possible.

* * *

That Friday, all the students were ordered into lines, from the first years in the front to the seventh years in the back. Eliza and Grace stood on the side of the Ravenclaw line which was connected to the Gryffindor's, so Grace and George were next to each other.

They waited for a very long time, and a lot of students were shivering and impatiently waiting on the delegations. Suddenly, Dumbledore yelled: "Aha! Unless I am very much mistaken, the delegation from Beauxbatons approaches!"

Now almost everyone was looking around, looking for the Beauxbatons people, until Grace yelled out: "There!" and pointed over the forest.

The Beauxbatons students arrived in a giant carriage, and a few minutes later the Durmstrang students arrived in a ship that submerged from the lake.

Once Grace realised Viktor Krum was with the Durmstrangs, she seized Eliza by the arm and dragged her over to him, all the while searching her pockets for a piece of parchment and a quill.

Eliza finally managed to lose her, and entered the Great Hall alone.

She saw that the French people had chosen the Ravenclaw table to sit at and searched the table for Carmen.

After she sat down, she saw that Grace was still missing, probably looking for parchment and quill or somewhere fawning over Krum.

The Heads of the tree schools entered the Great Hall last, and all the Beauxbatons students stood in respect when their Headmistress arrived.

Dumbledore started his speech with: "Good evening, ladies and gentlemen, ghosts and - most particularly – guests. I have great pleasure in welcoming you all to Hogwarts. I hope and trust that your stay here will be both comfortable and enjoyable."

The French girl next to Carmen laughed a derisive laugh and both Eliza and Carmen sent her a glare, just like many other students. Well, the ones who weren't mesmerized by her beauty. Eliza was sure the girl was at least part Veela.

"The tournament will be officially opened at the end of the feast," said Dumbledore. "I now invite you all to eat, drink, and make yourselves at home!"

The food appeared, and Eliza noticed that there were a lot of foreign dishes, what the girl next to Carmen seemed to like. She and the other French people ate all the bouillabaisse at the Ravenclaw table so the Veela girl went to the Gryffindor table to fetch some of theirs.

Eliza saw a lot of boys staring at her, Fred, George and Lee, too. She didn't know why she felt so jealous all of a sudden. She didn't want to be part Veela, did she? It would be absolutely horrible to have almost every boy fawning over you. No, Eliza was quite happy with the way she was. But then why was she jealous...?

After the feast, Professor Dumbledore continued with his speech.

" The moment has come. The Triwizard Tournament is about to start. I would like to say a few words of explanation before we bring in the casket just to clarify the procedure that we will be following this year. But first, let me introduce, for those who do not know them, Mr. Bartemius Crouch, Head of the Department of International Magical Cooperation-" there was a smattering of polite applause "- and Mr. Ludo Bagman, Head of the Department of Magical Games and Sports."

There was a much louder round of applause for Bagman than for Crouch.

"Mr. Bagman and Mr. Crouch have worked tirelessly over the last few months on the arrangements for the Triwizard Tournament," Dumbledore continued, "and they will be joining myself, Professor Karkaroff, and Madame Maxime on the panel that will judge the champions' efforts. The casket, then, if you please, Mr. Filch."

Filch walked towards Dumbledore, and Eliza whispered with Carmen about what could be inside the mysterious casket.

"The instructions for the tasks the champions will face this year have already been examined by Mr. Crouch and Mr. Bagman," said Dumbledore as Filch placed the chest carefully on the table before him, "and they have made the necessary arrangements for each challenge. There will be three tasks, spaced throughout the school year, and they will test the champions in many different ways.. their magical prowess - their daring - their powers of deduction - and, of course, their ability to cope with danger."

At this last word, the Hall was filled with a silence so absolute that nobody seemed to be breathing.

"As you know, three champions compete in the tournament," Dumbledore went on calmly, "one from each of the participating schools. They will be marked on how well they perform each of the Tournament tasks and the champion with the highest total after task three will win the Triwizard Cup. The champions will be chosen by an impartial selector: the Goblet of Fire."

Dumbledore now took out his wand and tapped three times upon the top of the casket. The lid creaked slowly open. Dumbledore reached inside it and pulled out a large, roughly hewn wooden cup. It would have been entirely unremarkable had it not been full to the brim with dancing blue-white flames.

Dumbledore closed the casket and placed the goblet carefully on top of it, where it would be clearly visible to everyone in the Hall.

"Anybody wishing to submit themselves as champion must write their name and school clearly upon a slip of parchment and drop it into the goblet," said Dumbledore. "Aspiring champions have twenty-four hours in which to put their names forward. Tomorrow night, Halloween, the goblet will return the names of the three it has judged most worthy to represent their schools. The goblet will be placed in the entrance hall tonight, where it will be freely accessible to all those wishing to compete.

"To ensure that no underage student yields to temptation," said Dumbledore, "I will be drawing an Age Line around the Goblet of Fire once it has been placed in the entrance hall. Nobody under the age of seventeen will be able to cross this line.

"Finally, I wish to impress upon any of you wishing to compete that this tournament is not to be entered into lightly. Once a champion has been selected by the Goblet of Fire, he or she is obliged to see the tournament through to the end. The placing of your name in the goblet constitutes a binding, magical contract. There can be no change of heart once you have become a champion. Please be very sure, therefore, that you are wholeheartedly prepared to play before you drop your name into the goblet. Now, I think it is time for bed. Good night to you all."

Eliza saw Lee, Fred and George talking with a few younger Gryffindors. _They're probably discussing ways to enter their names, _Eliza thought. She really hoped that it wouldn't work, that would save her a lot of worrying.

Leaving the Great Hall with Carmen, she caught George's eye and mouthed 'Good night' to him. He grinned and mouthed back 'same to you'. Eliza smiled and waved at him, before finally climbing the stairs to her dormitory.

* * *

**A/N: I tried getting this up a few days ago, but I forgot, sorry! Thanks to my reviewer, Lobo de Fuego!  
And of course, my (unofficial :) ) beta owhappyday! Thank you, thank you, thank you! (how many do you want?)  
Everyone who likes Draco/Ginny should go check out her story, An Unexpected Funder, it's really great!  
I'm busy writing a oneshot about The Oracle Trilogy at the moment, but after that I'll get back to Chances :)  
Please review and enjoy reading!**


	8. Of Beards and Banquets

The next day, Grace could only talk about Viktor Krum and how she wished she had gotten his autograph the day before. So Eliza escaped from her tirades by muttering that she was going to breakfast with the twins and running to the Gryffindor Tower.

She only had to wait for a minute, Hermione Granger left via the portrait and let Eliza enter.

"The boys are still in their dormitory!" she warned her, before walking off with her friends.

Once inside, Eliza quickly scanned the common room, looking for that infamous red hair, but she didn't see it. Since it was a Saturday, most students were wearing their normal clothes instead of the school uniform. Eliza was glad, because this meant that she wasn't as noticeable as a not-Gryffindor. She wore simple jeans, a T-shirt and a sweater, not her House colours.

After double-checking the room, she ascended the stairs to the boys' dormitories. She knew where the sixth year boys slept so she knocked on their door. When she entered, she saw the usual mess.

Eliza was used to the twins' room at the Burrow, so this wasn't a surprise to her. What the boys were doing, _was _a surprise.

"What on earth are you three doing?" she yelled, shocking the boys. "You can't just make a potion in your own room!"

"And why not?" Fred demanded, "It's for a noble cause!"

"Yeah!" George backed his brother up, "With this potion we can enter the Tournament."

"You can't seriously be thinking that Dumbledore's Age Line can be fooled by a simple Ageing Potion!" Eliza snorted. She thought George looked quite hurt at her words, and let Fred and Lee defend their 'simple' plan.

* * *

Five minutes later, they still hadn't convinced the stubborn Ravenclaw, so they gave up, put their potion in vials and took Eliza with them downstairs. The tree boys talked with Ron and his two friends before drinking the potion. Eliza and Hermione watched the twins jump through the Age Line, both of them sceptic.

Nothing happened.

Nothing happened? But Dumbledore's Age Line had to be stronger than the potion, right? As Eliza pondered this thought, the twins were suddenly thrown out of the circle and landed a few meters away. Eliza was instantly worried about them, and ran over to check for injuries. Before she arrived, however, the Weasley pranksters were suddenly graced with beards!

She couldn't suppress her laughter when she saw that the boys weren't hurt, but looked really ridiculous with those beards, and after a few moments of glaring, the twins joined her.

Dumbledore entered and sent Fred and George to the Hospital Wing. Lee came to stand by Eliza and they watched Cedric Diggory put his name in the Goblet together.

Walking to the Great Hall for breakfast, Eliza followed Lee to the Gryffindor table and cheered with the rest of them for Angelina Johnson, whose birthday had been just a few days before Eliza's.

"Why aren't you entering, Eliza?" Ron Weasley asked her.

"Ehm..." she hadn't expected this question, "I think it's too dangerous. I don't want to risk my life for money."

Ron looked disappointed, but Hermione approved.

"Glad someone agrees with me!" she laughed at Eliza, who smiled back.

After breakfast, Eliza finished a difficult essay for Ancient Runes, which cost her her whole morning, then she went down for lunch.

She saw the Veela girl again, this time occupying her usual seat, so she sat at the Gryffindor table, across from Fred. She made to sit down, when suddenly George slid down a seat to say something to his brother. He clearly hadn't seen Eliza. Eliza didn't have enough time to pull away, so she landed on George's lap.

"George!" she cried out, "Why don't you look before you go sit somewhere else?"

George, who for some reason had really red ears and cheeks, murmured something incomprehensible while Fred looked at the whole show amused.

Finally, George said something understandable.

"I'm sorry El," he apologised, "I should've looked behind me."

Eliza nodded in response, and slid down his lap to sit next to him because she felt very awkward sitting on her best friends' lap.

During lunch, Eliza couldn't help but noticing that George's cheeks remained rather pink. Every time they had almost resumed their normal colour, Fred sent him some weird look and he blushed again. Eliza pretended she didn't notice, 'cause her own face wasn't its normal golden brown yet.

"Lee!" she called to her friend. He looked up at her.

"Yes?"

"Don't forget our appointment; in ten minutes in the library. I'm just going to grab something from my room, so I'll see you there?"

"Sure" he nodded and Eliza left.

Sending a glance over her shoulder before she was out of the Hall, she saw her three favourite Gryffindors arguing over the table. Fred and George looked a bit angry and shocked, and Lee defensive.  
_  
Boys, _she thought. She had no idea what they were arguing about this time.

Quickly grabbing a quill, parchment and her Ancient Runes book, Eliza walked to the library to meet Lee to finish their Runes translation.

* * *

When they had finally finished the translation after a few hours, Eliza and Lee went to their respective common rooms to put their stuff away. The rest of the day was spent relaxing in front of the fire with Grace and some other sixth year Ravenclaws.

When it was time to head down for dinner, Eliza waved quickly at Fred, George and Lee before going to sit next to a Beauxbatons girl with long, silvery blonde hair. Dinner appeared, but Eliza didn't enjoy it as much as she normally would.

The Great Hall was buzzing with anticipation for the choosing of the three champions, and Eliza couldn't wait for the plates to clear. When they finally did, Dumbledore stood up and said: "Well, the goblet is almost ready to make its decision. I estimate that it requires one more minute. Now, when the champions' names are called, I would ask them please to come up to the top of the Hall, walk along the staff table, and go through into the next chamber" - he indicated the door behind the staff table - "where they will be receiving their first instructions."

He took out his wand and gave a great sweeping wave with it; at once, all the candles except those inside the carved pumpkins were extinguished, plunging them into a state of semidarkness. The Goblet of Fire now shone more brightly than anything in the whole Hall, the sparkling bright, bluey-whiteness of the flames almost painful on the eyes.

Eliza and all the other students watched, waiting. She kept checking her watch.

The flames inside the goblet turned suddenly red again. Sparks began to fly from it. Next moment, a tongue of flame shot into the air, a charred piece of parchment fluttered out of it - the whole room gasped. Dumbledore caught the piece of parchment and held it at arm's length, so that he could read it by the light of the flames, which had turned back to blue-white.

"The champion for Durmstrang," he read, in a strong, clear voice, "will be Viktor Krum."

Eliza clapped politely while watching Grace bemused. She clearly thought that cheering the hardest for the Quidditch star would get her in his good graces. Eliza laughed at her, and Grace stuck her tongue out. The French girl next to Eliza, the one who was part Veela, looked at Grace with disdain. The clapping and chatting died down.

Now everyone's attention was focused again on the goblet, which, seconds later, turned red once more. A second piece of parchment shot out of it, propelled by the flames.

"The champion for Beauxbatons," said Dumbledore, "is Fleur Delacour!"

The part Veela next to Eliza stood up gracefully and went into the appointed room. Two other French girls at the Ravenclaw table looked as if they were crying. Most boys took it in better, they were already chatting about the reasons why Fleur would win. At least, that's what Grace told Eliza they were saying.

Eliza had never been good at learning new languages. Her father had once tried to teach her French, but it was no success. She had it from her mother, who always insisted on speaking English when they were on a vacation. Luckily her stepfather was almost fluent in many languages, just like Eliza's father. Suddenly everyone became quiet. The Hogwarts champion would be next…

And the Goblet of Fire turned red once more; sparks showered out of it; the tongue of flame shot high into the air, and from its tip Dumbledore pulled the third piece of parchment.

"The Hogwarts champion," he called, "is Cedric Diggory!"

_Yes!_ Eliza thought as she jumped to her feet and started applauding and cheering for her almost-friend. The cheering went on for a very long time.

"Excellent!" Dumbledore called happily as at last the tumult died down. "Well, we now have our three champions. I am sure I can count upon all of you, including the remaining students from Beauxbatons and Durmstrang, to give your champions every ounce of support you can muster. By cheering your champion on, you will contribute in a very real – "

But Dumbledore suddenly stopped speaking, and it was apparent to Eliza what had distracted him.

The fire in the goblet had just turned red again. Sparks were flying out of it. A long flame shot suddenly into the air, and borne upon it was another piece of parchment. Automatically, it seemed, Dumbledore reached out a long hand and seized the parchment.

He held it out and stared at the name written upon it. There was a long pause, during which Dumbledore stared at the slip in his hands, and everyone in the room stared at Dumbledore. Eliza held her breath. And then Dumbledore cleared his throat and read out - "Harry Potter."

_What? _Eliza thought bewildered, _Harry Potter? But he's just a fourth year! He couldn't have put his name in the Goblet, he just couldn't!_

She was so distracted by her thoughts, that she completely missed Harry walking in the room. She only saw the door closing behind him and then everyone began to talk at once. It took Dumbledore a few tries to silence everybody again, and then he dismissed the students. He and a few of the other people who sat at the Head's Table walked towards the room with the champions in it, all of them looking worried, furious or stoic.

Eliza quickly walked back to the Ravenclaw Tower, to avoid the masses of people who were still talking in the Great Hall. She immediately went to bed, but spent half an hour reading a bit in one of the books she had gotten for her birthday.

* * *

**A/N: Hey! I just noticed that this wasn't part of the last chapter, so I gave Chapter 7 the wrong title. I'm very sorry and I'll try to change it, if I find out how it works...  
I want to thank my reviewers, Lobo de Fuego, YukiKyoMomiji, owhappyday, ShannonH, Jayde, angel2u and Dying Is Her Latest Fashion, and everyone who alerted/favourited!  
And of course a great many thanks to my wonderful beta, owhappyday :)  
I really should study for the tests on Monday right now, but I felt like procrastinating :P  
Oh, I don't know if any of you noticed, but I have a oneshot about Harry Potter and it has a few links with this story. If you read carefully, you will notice :)  
Anyway, thanks for reading!**


	9. Of Misery and Mystery

The next morning Eliza ate her breakfast all by herself. She only saw Hermione who grabbed a few sandwiches and then left again. When none of her friends had arrived some time later, she decided to just go upstairs again, grab her music book and go to the strange room to practice her music.

When she arrived at the seventh floor corridor, she walked a few times back and forth, still thinking about her harp. The door appeared and Eliza swiftly went inside, closing the door behind her. She looked outside at the marvellous view for a few minutes and then she sat down at the harp. She chose one of the songs from the book Ginny had given her and started practicing.

An hour or two later she still wasn't satisfied with her playing, so she became incredibly frustrated. After fuming in herself for a while, she felt that she was calm enough to go downstairs and walk around the lake.

* * *

She stepped out of the Entrance Hall when someone grabbed her elbow to pull her to a stop. Now, Eliza wasn't in a good mood and this was just the last straw.

"What do you want?" she snapped at the unknown person behind her.

"Sorry, I just saw you walking and thought you might like some company," a rather hurt voice said. Eliza could tell it was one of the twins, she just didn't know which one. Their voices sounded exactly alike, so Eliza only knew which twin it was when she could see him. She turned around and came face to face with George.

"George," she sighed, "I'm not in a good mood, so I'm taking a stroll around the lake now."

She walked away from him without waiting for a reply. She didn't hear him coming after her, so she was startled when he suddenly came up by her side. He didn't say anything, just like she hoped he would. They walked in silence for at least half of the walk.

Eliza was silently reprimanding herself for not handling being bad at something well. Every time when she practiced something and she still couldn't do it after a while, she became angry. Angry at herself for the most part, but when someone had the misfortune of crossing her, she became angry at them too.

Eliza didn´t want George to be there when she was like this. She contemplated how she could lose him the easiest, when she got an idea.

She quit walking and watched George walking on, he didn´t notice that she wasn´t walking next to him anymore. Eliza turned around silently and made to sit on a rock by the waterside.

When she sat, she noticed that nobody could see her, that secluded was her spot. She, however, could see them. The Ravenclaw saw her best friend still walking around the lake. She wondered when he would notice that she wasn´t there anymore, but she didn´t want to think about that now. Eliza closed around and analyzed her behaviour for a while, all the while fuming at herself.

A while later, Eliza had no idea how long she had sat there, she was finally calm. Looking at the sky, she realised that she had probably missed lunch. She had planned to take a quick walk around the Black Lake and then eat some lunch, but it had taken longer than expected. So when Eliza arrived at the Entrance Hall, she immediately went off towards the kitchens.

* * *

Skipping towards the Ravenclaw Tower with a leftover brownie in her hand, Eliza decided to sit by a window for a while and eat the chocolaty goodness the Elves had given her.

Suddenly she heard a curious pair of footsteps, it sounded like a foot and then something else… like the person had two different feet! She quickly swallowed the rest of her brownie, just in case she would have to use a spell. The footsteps came nearer and nearer and Eliza grew more anxious with every step.

Then the sounds stopped and Eliza almost thought she had imagined it, when she heard a quick swish of a wand. She felt a tingle and reckoned it was the _Homenum Revelio _spell. The one who had cast it, now knew she was there! She had no idea why she was so scared, she was at Hogwarts of all places! Nothing could harm –

Everything went black.

* * *

Eliza slowly regained her consciousness and opened her eyes. She immediately shut them again, the light was too bright, it hurt her eyes. She concentrated on her ears, perhaps she would hear something that could help her with deciding what had happened to her. Unfortunately, it was silent wherever she was.

Eliza only knew that she lay in an uncomfortable position, and the surface was hard. Then she heard the strange footsteps again. Even though she wanted to know who had knocked her out, she was afraid of them so she kept herself still. She heard a flick of a wand and then nothing, again.

* * *

The next time Eliza woke up, she recognized the place. She was in a bed in the Hospital Wing! She could even hear Madam Pomfrey humming and organising some things in her office. Eliza sat up and carefully patted her head. The spells hadn´t done her much harm, but she did have a headache. She groaned and dropped her head in her hands. This alerted Madam Pomfrey, who came rushing in the room with a few potions.

"You're finally awake, dear! Now, I reckon you have a headache, so I want you to drink this blue potion. Professors Dumbledore and Flitwick will be here in five minutes, to speak with you."

Eliza obediently swallowed the blue potion, and grimaced at the sour taste. Luckily, it vanished her headache so she didn't mind the awful taste.

Dumbledore and Flitwick entered the Hospital Wing and came straight to her bed.

"Miss Weber! I'm very glad to see you awake!" said Professor Flitwick.

"Yes, yes. But we are both curious to know what happened to you," added Professor Dumbledore. Eliza noticed that the usual twinkle in his eyes was gone.

"I don't know what happened," she replied. "One moment, I was just sitting in a window sill, and the next I hear footsteps, then a tingle and after that everything went black! I don't know what happened!" Eliza cried, a feeling of panic threatened to overwhelm her.

"Calm down Miss Weber. You said you heard footsteps? Do you have any idea whose they can be?"

"No. I only remember noticing that the footsteps sounded different. Like one of the feet differed from the other. And I thought that the tingle I felt could be the _Homenum Revelio _spell."

"Very good, Miss Weber! We will investigate this. Do you feel good enough to go to classes again?" Flitwick asked.

"Yes, I do. How long have I been unconscious?"

"It is nearing eleven o'clock now. We don't know when you were knocked out," Dumbledore answered.

"Just after lunch. So I've been missing the whole afternoon! Do my friends know where I am?"

"No, Miss Lions came to me when she couldn't find you but she said that you were in a bad mood so you could just be wandering about the grounds to cool down."

Eliza blushed and said: "Yes, she's right. Should I tell them what happened?"

The Professors looked at each other and Flitwick told her not to tell any of her friends, for fear that her attacker should hear it. Professor Dumblebore said that he would send an owl to Eliza's father to tell him what had happened. Eliza agreed and was allowed to leave the Hospital Wing.

* * *

The riddle was an easy one tonight: _'Whom should one never call by their given name?'  
_  
"A sleep-walker," Eliza answered and was allowed in the Common Room.

She stepped in and took a moment on her way to the dormitory to admire the glowing stars in the ceiling. She climbed the stairs to her room and changed into her pyjamas. All the girls from her year were already sleeping, so Eliza stepped into bed and blew the candle next to it.

* * *

**A/N: Hello everyone! I hope you liked the chapter... finally something happened! :) So, does anyone have an idea who the mysterious attacker is?  
Unfortunately, I've almost posted all the chapters I had prewritten... so I have to write more :P Now that the testweek is over, I should have more time.  
I want to thank everyone who reviewed: Lobo de Fuego, YukiKyoMomiji, angel2u, 'Anonymous,' iZoe and owhappyday! And of course everyone who favourited/alerted :)  
Special thanks to my beta, owhappyday, and all my other friends who proofread it! (By the way, owhappyday has a really good story!)  
Has anyone noticed the links between my oneshot 'Too Annoying To Love?' and this one? :P They're not that hard to find...  
The oneshot I was planning to write about The Oracle Trilogy will have to wait, this story is more important :)**

Thank you for reading and please review!


	10. Of Realisations and Rosiness

The next morning was a Monday, so Eliza had to get up early. She was woken by her Alarm Spell, and quickly turned it off. Once she was dressed in her uniform and had grabbed her bag, she made her way to the Great Hall.

Eliza didn't see Grace at the Ravenclaw table, so she automatically turned towards the Gryffindors. Scanning the table for redheads, she saw Ron Weasley sitting close by. Harry and Hermione weren't with him, which was strange. Looking further, she spotted Ginny with her friends and only then could she locate Fred and George. She plopped down next to George with a general 'Good morning' and poured herself a glass of milk.

"Eliza! Where were you yesterday? We were just walking and all of a sudden you were gone!" George said, and Eliza felt a pang when she realised that she had hurt him.

"I'm sorry. It's just that I needed to be alone so I sat by the Lake for a while."

"A while? Seemed a bit longer than a while!" George said sarcastically.

"I know, and I'm sorry," Eliza said softly, looking down at her plate.

"I've forgiven you already," Fred said cheeringly, and loaded Eliza's plate with toast and eggs.

"Thanks," Eliza looked up and smiled at him.

"Yes, well, you shouldn't go off like that anymore! We were worried about you," George said, blushing.

"I will try not to do it again." Eliza noticed that only Fred had said that he'd forgiven her. She knew Grace would not be angry at her, but what about George? It was made even worse by the fact that she wasn't allowed to tell them what had happened yesterday.

* * *

After their last class, Grace and Eliza went with the boys to the Gryffindor Common Room to do their homework. At least, that was the plan. Fred and Lee had talked to Grace the whole way and had convinced her to try some of their sweets.

"Fine! If it helps you! But if you kill me, I will – " the rest of her sentence couldn't be heard by Eliza, who had stayed in the Common Room with George while the others went upstairs.

"So..."

"So? What do you mean by 'so'?" Eliza asked him.

"I just didn't know what to say."

"So you say 'so'? You really shouldn't do that. Anyway, what're we going to do?"

"Ehm... we could... do our homework?"

And so they did. But when they were finished with their Charms essay, there wasn't any homework they could do.

"Now what?"

"We could play a game," Eliza suggested.

"Okay, I'll go grab the cards."

* * *

They played a few games, but Eliza didn't win a single one of them.

"It's not fair! Why do you win all the time?" she pouted.

"Ha! May I win for once? At least it's not chess!" George laughed.

"I still don't like it!" Eliza turned her head away from him and pretended to glare at the fire. Suddenly she felt a hand on her chin, forcing her to turn her head back.

"Wha –" her voice was cut off when she noticed their closeness. Eliza felt her cheeks grow hot as she stared into George's dark blue eyes. Dark blue with a ring of lighter blue around his pupil.

George gazed right back at her and moved his fingers from her chin to her cheek. This didn't help Eliza to relax so her cheeks would return to their normal colour. Her heart beat frantically, and she knew that she needed to come to terms with her feelings for George. She felt differently towards him than towards Lee or Fred.

It had started at the end of last year, but she had tried to ignore it. Now Eliza should admit to herself that she... liked George. Fancied him, even. She resolved to think about it that night, when she lay in bed. Her current position was not ideal for such thoughts. George didn't seem to notice that her thoughts had gone off, he was still gazing into her eyes dreamily.

What did this mean? Did he like her? You didn't look a girl in the eyes the way he did if you didn't have some feelings for her, right? But of course George didn't like her! Why would he? They were best friends, he had every right in the world to look at her the way he wanted to. Although... was Eliza imagining this or did George tilt his head slightly in her direction? Her head moved towards him on its own accord and Eliza saw George's lips getting closer and closer...

"Eliza! You have to help me! My nose won't stop bleeding!"

George and Eliza jerked apart, both with flaming cheeks, and couldn't look at each other again.

"Grace, you look terrible," Eliza was glad that her voice sounded semi-steady."_Episkey_, that should do it."

"Thank you. By the way, what were you and George doing when I walked in?" Grace whispered.

"Nothing," Eliza said evadingly, but her pink cheeks proved otherwise.

"Sure," Grace said knowingly and turned her attention to Fred and Lee to yell at them for almost killing her. Eliza saw George look at her from the corner of her eye, but when she looked back, they both looked away, embarrassed.

_How will we ever get back to normal? We almost kissed! Or was that just my seeing too much in the situation? Wouldn't surprise me..._ Eliza thought dejectedly. They all went down to dinner, and Eliza made sure not to sit directly opposite George. If she did that, she would only blush throughout the meal, so she sat opposite Fred.

* * *

That night, Eliza thought about everything that happened. She had told Grace a very short version just after dinner, and she seemed satisfied. Grace had said that it had been obvious to her for a long time that Eliza fancied George. Eliza had panicked at this, wondering if George knew. Grace comforted her by saying that she was sure he didn't know.

"Besides," Grace had concluded, "you've only found out yourself a few hours ago!"  
_  
I do know that I like George now... but when did this start? _Eliza wondered.

_Feelings like this just don't appear out of nowhere! Well, we have known each other since first year, so I don't think it's that weird. Apparently Grace had seen it coming already, so how come I didn't? Does George even like me? Of course he likes me as his friend, but as more? I don't think so... Should I do something about this? Like, ask him out or something? ... No, I don't have the courage. What if he says no? I'd better just try to ignore this and behave like I always do. But Circe, how can I face him tomorrow?_

****

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* * *

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	11. Of Apparition and Aggravations

During the whole week, Eliza and George could hardly look at each other without being embarrassed. They had a silent agreement not to talk of 'The Incident,' as Eliza called it when talking about it with Grace, so the embarrassment stayed.

In the weekend Eliza was lucky to have a distraction. She had taken the Apparition classes, together with her friends, and since she was of age now, she opted to do the exam. The test was set to take place at Hogsmeade on Saturday morning.

Eliza's friends walked her to the gates and wished her luck. She hugged Grace and Fred and waved at the other two. She didn't fail to see the hurt look George had on his face, but she still felt too awkward to hug him.

"We'll have a little party when you get back, Eliza! In the Great Hall, during lunch, all right boys?"

"Of course, we'll be there! Wouldn't miss it for the world," George answered. Fred nodded but Lee didn't appear to have heard them, he was too busy staring at Alicia Spinnet and made to walk toward her.

* * *

Eliza went to a group of sixth years when she arrived at the village. There weren't many of them, since this was the first examination and not many students had turned seventeen yet. Eliza stood next to Angelina Johnson, who looked rather pale.

"Aren't you nervous?" Angelina whispered to Eliza enviously.

"No, just a little bit. I'm sure you'll do fine Angelina, you can Apparate perfectly!"

Angelina was just about to say something in return, probably to deny it, when the Ministry's officials arrived. Eliza was the last one to be examined, because of her last name starting with a 'W.'

Angelina was almost the first one, and she passed the examination with flying colours. She beamed at Eliza, wished her luck and went into the Three Broomsticks to catch her breath.

When it was finally Eliza's turn, she took a deep breath and concentrated on the Shrieking Shack. _Focus, focus, you will make it if you just concentrate_, she kept telling herself as she spun on the spot.

The horrible feeling of being squeezed through a narrow pipe enveloped her and she was relieved when it stopped. Taking another deep breath, she looked around and noticed that she had almost Apparated perfectly. Almost, because she had ended at the wrong side of the fence. Quickly she climbed over it. The Shack was, after all, thought to be haunted.

Eliza looked around. What was she supposed to do now? The thought hadn't even entered her head when she heard someone coming nearer.

"I'm sorry, Miss Weber isn't it? I thought I'd had the last one already..."

"Oh, that's all right," Eliza smiled at the woman from the Ministry.

"So, let me see... You Apparated to the right spot, so it seems like you passed!"

"Really?" Eliza asked, amazed.  
"Of course! You are now legally allowed to Apparate. Though if I were you, I would be careful with Side-along Apparition for a while. Now, here is your license. Let me just sign it for you... Here you are."

"Thank you! I really though I wouldn't pass, seeing as I appeared at the wrong side of the fence..."

"You did? I didn't notice that. Well, it's only a metre difference, and you didn't Splinch yourself, so if you just focus more on your destination you should manage. I'll still give you your license, though if someone asks... you only landed less than half a metre from where you were supposed to be, all right?"

"All right, thank you very much!"

"You're welcome. Now, go on and Apparate back to the village and then I think you'd better go back to school, it's almost lunchtime."

"I will, goodbye!"

* * *

Eliza entered the Great Hall after having Apparated to the gates. She hadn't seen Angelina at 'The Three Broomsticks' so she just went on. This time she _had_ appeared at the exact spot she had in mind. Looking over at her table, she saw Grace sitting all by herself.

"Hi Grace! Why are you alone?"

"Hi! The twins had to write a letter or something, they said it was urgent, and Lee hadn't finished his homework yet. But how did it go? Did you pass?

"I did! Although I didn't exactly Apparate perfectly... But I still passed."

"Fantastic! You're the first one out of all of us who can legally Apparate! We need to celebrate it, why aren't those boys here yet?"

Eliza just smiled and began spreading her bread with butter.

Grace kept shooting anxious glances at the door, but none of the Gryffindors she was looking for arrived.

Finally, when lunch was almost over, Lee entered. He searched for them and came over when Grace waved at him.

"Did you pass Eliza?"

"Of course she did! How could you ever doubt her?" Grace asked, mock-glaring at him.

Eliza just snorted while Lee looked uncomfortable.

"I didn't doubt her! I just..." Lee looked around helplessly.

This was Grace and Eliza's cue to laugh and Lee joined them, eventually.

"But still, congratulations Eliza! When are we celebrating it?"

"Now!" Grace answered. "If those Weasleys don't deem this important enough for their presence, we can just do it without them. I'd never have thought they were the kind of people who broke a promise...Lee, grab a drink so we can toast!"

* * *

Grace, Lee and Eliza toasted on Eliza's new license and then went to wander through the corridors. Eliza didn't want to admit it, but she felt really hurt.

Two of her best friends didn't even come to ask her if she had passed the Apparition test! They had said that they would be there in the Great Hall. If the roles were reversed, she would have congratulated them immediately. _I guess they had something more important to do..._ Eliza thought, but this hurt her even more. _  
_  
"Do you know why George and Fred didn't even ask me how my exam went?" she couldn't keep her voice from breaking a little.

"I really don't know," Grace frowned. "But I think it's very rude! How could they ignore you, especially George after 'the incident'? It's like they don't even care! They promised to be there!"

Those words didn't really help Eliza, and she kept feeling a bit hurt the rest of the day. By dinnertime, Grace was furious with Fred and George on behalf of Eliza. Eliza herself didn't mind much, she was just a bit surprised that George and Fred didn't hold onto their promise. Luckily the twins were nowhere in sight during dinner, so Grace couldn't unleash her anger on them.

* * *

**A/N: Hi everyone! I didn't like this chapter... but I hope you do :)  
More than 30 reviews! That's the most I've ever had! Thank you, everyone who has reviewed!**

**Lobo de Fuego, angel2u, owhappyday, YukiKyoMomiji and bluemickey22: thank you so much for reviewing last chapter!**  
**And, of course, everyone who favourited/alerted :)**  
**I'll give all of you chocolate cookies!**

**Owhappyday, thank you for betaing! You're a great beta, don't deny it!**  
**And my other friends who have proofread this, but don't have an account... you also get lots of chocolate cookies! :P**

**By the way, I edited last chapter, but for some reason my A/N has disappeared... I have no idea what I've done wrong :(**

**Thank you for reading and please review :)**


	12. Of Secrets and Sadness

The next morning at breakfast Eliza received an owl from her father.

_Dearest Liz,_

_I hope that you are fine by now, I am very worried about you. I still feel stunned from the letter I received from your Headmaster. You were knocked out! You could have been killed!  
_  
_Do you have any idea who attacked you? And why? I know your Professors probably asked the same thing, but I need to know. As far as I know, you don't have any real enemies, or do you?  
_  
_The only reason I can think of is me. I have made a lot of enemies because of my work as an Auror, most of them people who fought on the side of You-Know-Who during the War. One of them must have figured out that you are my daughter and is out to take revenge.  
_  
_I warn you to stay on your guard at all times. Try not to be alone, especially at night.  
_  
_I'll send a letter to Professor Dumbledore to tell him what I think. In the meantime, I hope you are well and I will try to go to Hogsmeade in your next free weekend._  
_  
By the way, congratulations on passing your Apparition license! I'm very proud of you, and I'm sure your mother will be, too._

_With all my love,_

_Your father_

Eliza was very happy to hear from her father again. Because her parents were divorced, she didn't get to see him as often as she'd like. Before she could hide her letter it was snatched out of her hands. Eliza turned to see Fred and George reading her letter.

Immediately, she grabbed it back and put it in her bag. The Weasleys stood still like statues, looking like they'd just seen a ghost. Well, they could've, for all Eliza knew, but at Hogwarts you got used to them.

"W—were you..." George stammered

"Wha—what?" Fred didn't sound much better.

_Oh great, _Eliza thought. _I hope they won't be angry with me... it wasn't my fault that I haven't told them that I was knocked out!  
_  
"Were you attacked?" George suddenly asked through clenched teeth.

Eliza knew there was no use in denying it anymore, they had read the first part of her letter after all. So she just nodded and looked around her in search for help.

"You were attacked and you didn't even tell us?" Fred demanded of her, his eyes blazing fire.

"No! I wasn't allowed to!" Eliza yelled back, getting angry, too.

"So? You still should've told us!" said George with a red face.

"I should have? I should have? _I wasn't allowed to_, for Circe's sake!"

"You can trust us. We thought you knew that," Fred whispered.

"Yes, I thought so too. But after you two didn't even bother to show up after my Apparition exam, I'm not so sure anymore."

Eliza saw the realisation in their eyes, which was quickly replaced with hot anger.

"That doesn't mean you can't trust us! We'd really expected more of you, Eliza."

It was George who said that, but Fred nodded and together they left the Great Hall. Eliza could still tell that they were angry, they stomped rather than walked and pushed everybody out of their way.

Eliza sagged down on the bench. Only now did she take note of the fact that she had just had a fight inside the Great Hall. Luckily it was just before the breakfast rush, most students weren't there yet, and the ones who were probably didn't care about a fight between sixth year students, a fight which had left Eliza trying to keep hold of her tears.

She fled from the Great Hall and raced the stairs to get to her dormitory fast.

* * *

It was Sunday, so Eliza could spend the rest of the day in her dormitory. She cried a while, but when she began to analyse their argument she got angrier and angrier. Those boys had no right to talk to her like that! She couldn't help it that she wasn't allowed to tell them about the attack! And they didn't even show up for her party yesterday!

Eliza wasn't used to this kind of behaviour from Fred and George. Sure, they got protective sometimes, but they'd never had such an argument about it!

Grace came in around lunch time and she brought a few sandwiches with her for Eliza. Eliza told her what had happened and Grace sympathised with her.

"I understand that you're angry Eliza. I'm disappointed that you didn't tell me that you were attacked too, but I've at least let you explain! When Dumbledore tells you that you can't tell anyone you shouldn't of course. But I talked to Fred and George and they won't see reason. I've never seen them this furious before," Grace bit her lip. Eliza could tell Grace didn't know what to do.

"They have no right to be angry at me! They were the ones that didn't show up yesterday while they promised to do so! And I've noticed that they're sometimes writing something, very secretive, and I'm not angry at them because of that! I just can't believe the nerve of them! Those... those... I don't know!" Eliza yelled.

Grace looked quite shocked, but nodded and hugged Eliza. Eliza let herself be comforted by her friend and sobbed for a bit. Grace tried to talk her into going to dinner when Eliza had calmed down, but she refused, saying that she would call for a house-elf to bring her supper.

* * *

After her quick dinner Eliza went to bed early. She stayed awake for too long though, tossing and turning in her bed. She couldn't help but think of all the years she had known the twins, starting with their meeting in first year...

***_Flashback_***

_It was the second week of her first year at Hogwarts, and Eliza was walking with her new friend Grace. They took the stairs up to the fifth floor and made their way through the corridors. Suddenly, Eliza saw something glimmering near the ground. Without thinking, she put her arm in front of Grace, effectively stopping her._

_"What is it?" eleven-year old Grace asked._

_"I don't know, but I thought I saw a thread..." Eliza answered._

_Then the two friends heard hushed voices. Grace pulled away a tapestry and behind it were...two redheaded Gryffindor boys, probably first years._

_"Why did you put that thread there?" Eliza asked them curiously._

_"Because, when someone walks against it a bucket of water will fall down!" one of the boys answered her. Eliza and Grace pulled up their eyebrows and stared at them._

_"What? You don't think it's a good idea?"_

_"No, of course we don't. Who are you anyway?" Grace sighed._

_"I am Gred –"_

_"—and I am Forge. Weasley."_

_"Nice to meet you George and Fred. I'm Eliza Weber and this is Grace Lions."_

_"What did you say was wrong with our prank?" Fred asked them._

_"Well, to make it better you could –"_

***_End Flashback_***

Eliza sighed at the memory. She had helped the boys often with their pranks after that... But no, It'd be better not to think about that, she had only just stopped crying.

Instead, she remembered that she was almost the only one who could keep Fred and George apart. Eliza didn't exactly know why, but George's eyes were just a bit deeper and warmer than Fred's... and her feelings for them were of course different.  
_  
Great, _Eliza thought, _when I finally figure out that I like George, we have a huge fight and aren't on speaking terms! Just my luck...  
_  
With that thought she fell asleep.

* * *

**A/N: Hi everyone! I'm sorry I didn't update last week, I didn't have enough time... too much homework :(  
This is the second to last chapter I have written, so I hope I'll have enough time this week to write more :P  
I'm going to visit a university tomorrow! I'm really looking forward to it.**

**Anyway, my thanks and brownies go to Lobo de Fuego, YukiKyoMomiji, angel2u and owhappyday!**  
**And to everyone who reviewed/alerted :)**

**Owhappyday: the ghost part is just for you! I know you liked it! :D Thanks for being my beta!**


	13. Of Torment and Tasks

Weeks went by. At first, Eliza and the Weasley twins would glare at each other whenever they passed, but after a few weeks they had resorted to just ignore each other. Grace had had a few fights with the boys, bravely defending her friend, but she too was now being ignored. Lee was stuck between the two camps, maintaining his friendship with both Fred and George and Grace and Eliza.

Luckily, Eliza didn't have a class with just George and Fred, so she could sit next to Grace. Potions was a problem, because Eliza was partnered with George and Grace with Fred, but they managed by keeping the talking to a minimum.

Lee didn't want to be a part of the fight, he had forgiven Eliza for not telling them about the attack as soon as he heard that she wasn't allowed to tell anyone. So Lee and Eliza only really talked during Ancient Runes, the rest of the time he was with the Weasleys.

* * *

Soon it was November 24th, the day of the first task. Eliza and Grace went down with the rest of the school to sit in the stands. They walked past a huge tent, Eliza assumed that was where the champions were. _I'm so glad I don't have to do this, _she thought, thankful once more that she hadn't put her name in the Goblet.

"Good luck Cedric!" Eliza yelled when she saw Cedric, a very pale Cedric, in the tent. He only managed a weak smile, which Grace answered with a beaming one. They waved at Cedric and walked  
further.

Fred and George came by at that moment and glared at her, once again. They were persuading students to place bets on the champions, but completely surpassed her and Grace.

* * *

Eliza was glad when the task was over, it was horrible! She had been very worried throughout the whole ordeal and was relieved there were no very serious injuries.

She had, together with Grace, checked on Cedric and once they were sure he would survive they went back to the castle for dinner.

* * *

After dinner, Eliza made to give Harry her congratulations for doing so well during his task, but she was stopped.

"Where do you think you're going?" Fred demanded of her, his whole expression making clear how angry he still was.

"To Harry. So get out of my way!" Eliza hissed back. She wasn't that angry anymore, more disappointed.

Fred didn't move, so Eliza shoved her way past him, only to come face to face with another Weasley twin. Looking at George, a wave of emotions overtook her. Anger, sadness, disappointment, regret, longing... it was too much. Eliza turned on her heel and stormed out of the Great Hall.

Passing Harry on her way she whispered a quick 'congratulations' and hoped nobody had seen her pain.

* * *

Thursday started good, with a free period first thing. Eliza caught up with Lee in the hallway and together they went to their double period Ancient Runes.

When the bell rang to signal the end of their lesson, Eliza said goodbye to Lee and made her way to the dungeons for Potions.

She was slightly late so she hurried down the stairs. Turning a corner she saw someone putting something on in her way but she was too late with her reaction. Stumbling she grabbed the first thing she could find so she wouldn't fall.

"What're you _doing?_" an all too familiar voice asked her. _Great, of all the people I could stumble against, it would be the one I have a crush on!_

"Nothing, I... I fell. Someone _tripped_me!" realising this, Eliza turned around and unleashed her anger on Fred.

"I never would've thought you could be so childish Fred! Making me trip... oh, please!" She said furiously. "Just go back to ignoring me, then you won't have to use such childish measures."

Fred didn't look like he would say something, so Eliza turned back to George.

"Sorry for running into you," she said, in a matter-of-fact tone, not apologetic at all.

* * *

That Potions class was one of the worst Eliza had ever been in. Fred and Grace were fighting the whole time and refused to listen to each other. Between Eliza and George things were just... awkward.

They only said something when it was necessary for the potion they were making, otherwise they pretended to read the textbook or just stared straight ahead.

* * *

After lunch and Arithmancy Eliza had the rest of the day off. She walked with Grace to Muggle Studies and then went outside to do her homework near the Black Lake.

Humming to herself, she was quickly distracted from her Arithmancy assignments, instead Eliza gazed at the Lake, wondering if the Giant Squid would show itself. It didn't. Shaking her head, Eliza turned her attention back to her homework, quickly solving the questions.

When she was done she stood up, gathering her things. She wanted to go back to her dormitory and grab her broom, she hadn't flown in a few weeks. Eliza was walking to the castle when suddenly a note appeared in front of her. Curious, she opened it. It was a letter, addressed to her.

_Eliza,_

_I'm sorry we weren't there after you exam, we were writing an important letter and had forgotten the time. I know we promised we would be there, and I understand that you're mad at us because we broke that promise. I hate fighting with you, we miss you. Perhaps George and I overreacted when we found out you were attacked, but I still think you should have told us. We were never ones to stick to the rules, were we Eliza?_  
_Anyway, I hope that you don't hate me as much after you read this._

_I really miss you. You're one of my best friends! I want to talk to you to sort this out, tonight. I'll be waiting at the Quidditch pitch after dinner. If you don't show up, that'll be a clear enough answer._

_Fred_

Eliza reread the letter a couple of times, noticing that he had crossed the words 'dear' before her name and later 'we' and wrote down 'I' instead. Smiling fondly, she tucked the letter in her pocket, resuming her walk.

The Ravenclaw was elated at this letter, Fred wanted to break up their fight and Eliza was very happy because of it.

_I'll go to him after dinner and then we'll make up! I hope we can go back to being the good friends we were... but everything is better than this, than being hated by my former best friends! I'm still hurt because of what they did, but I'm sure we can explain to each other why we did those things and then we can hopefully make up, _were Eliza's thoughts while she walked to her dormitory.

* * *

**A/N: Sorry I didn't update yesterday, but here is the chapter!  
40 reviews! Thank you all so much! That's almost 50 :P**

**Anyway, I want to thank Lobo de Fuego, indescribable music, YukiKyoMomiji and owhappyday for reviewing last chapter!**  
**And everyone who alerted/favourited of course :)**

**Thank you, Lobo de Fuego and owhappyday, for helping and betaing! :P**

**I'm sorry for all the time skips this chapter, it didn't work out otherwise...**

I went to buy new shoes today, because I'm going on a school trip in a few weeks and we'll have to walk a lot :( Why are all good shoes ugly and all pretty shoes not good enough? It's not fair :( But it was still fun :P I found good shoes, not very pretty but still, my feet won't hurt in Rome :D

After this boring story about my life, I'd like to thank you for reading all this and... please REVIEW!


	14. Of Tears and Talks

"What's gotten you so happy?" were the words which greeted Eliza as she entered her dormitory.

"What do you mean?" she frowned at Carmen, the one who had asked the question.

"I haven't seen you smile properly in ages! You know, ever since you had that fight with the Weasleys," Carmen explained.

"I... I just have a feeling everything is going to be better again," Eliza hesitated. She didn't want to tell the resident gossip queen of Hogwarts that she had received a letter from Fred.

"Sure, I hope so!" Carmen's short concentration span made her change the topic.

"Do you know the time?"

Eliza smiled at her hyper friend and said: "Yes, it's about 5 o'clock."

"Thanks! I'll see you later!"

And gone was Carmen. Eliza shook her head and sighed. What could she do now? Dinner wouldn't be in another hour and she was sure she wouldn't be able to concentrate on anything now, not with the prospect of making up with Fred!

* * *

Dinner seemed to last forever. Eliza had purposely sat with her back to the Gryffindor table so she wouldn't keep seeking Fred out during the whole meal but she regretted her choice now. She wasn't able to see when Fred finished eating and left the table so she didn't know when she should leave as well.

"Has he left already?" the dark-haired Ravenclaw hissed to her friend in front of her.

"No, so stop being so nervous," Grace answered amused. "It's just Fred! You guys have been best friends for years! In an hour or so you'll have made up and everything will be all right again."

Eliza smiled half-heartedly in response and looked down at her plate.

"You're worried that George doesn't want to make amends, aren't you?" Grace sighed.

Eliza nodded and dropped her head on her arms.

"I don't know what to do," her voice sounded muffled.

"Obviously, you just have to talk with Fred and forgive each other. When you're best friends with Fred again George will see what he's missing out on and then you two will make up as well! By the way," Grace added, "I think this time apart will make George realise that he actually likes you, more than just friends."

"You think so?" Eliza sounded hopeful, lifting her head. Grace nodded and glanced over behind Eliza.

"Fred's just standing up. I think you should leave now, I don't want you to wander through the castle or the grounds alone," Grace looked worried.

With hastened assurances Eliza left the Great Hall, spotting Fred walking through the huge doors right away.**  
**

* * *

Fred walked too fast for Eliza to catch up so he was already waiting for her at the Quidditch pitch.

"Hi," Eliza said softly upon arrival.

"Hi. So, first of all, I want you to tell me how and why you were attacked."  
_  
Well,_ Eliza thought, _he sounds cold.  
_  
The Ravenclaw told her ex-best friend everything she remembered from that night.

"And then Dumbledore told me I wasn't allowed to tell anyone what had happened, not even my friends," Eliza said miserably, shivering as she recalled the horrible incident.

"I'm sorry that happened to you El," Fred said quietly. "And I'm sorry that George and I weren't there when we promised we would. I forgive you for not telling us about the attack. Do you also forgive me for not being there for you? I already explained in my note."  
_  
That's the first time someone other than George called me El, _Eliza though sadly. She shook her head and replied: "Thank you for forgiving me. I'm still scared, I'm always on my guard when I walk through the corridors," the green-eyed girl sighed. "But of course I forgive you. You and George have every right to keep secrets from me, I'm sorry for overreacting –"

"We all overreacted!" Fred interrupted her. "I don't know why. I was hurt that you had kept something from us, and I didn't understand why you were so angry with us for not showing up after your exam and keeping something from you. It was just..." he sighed. "I guess it was just... all those circumstances added together made us all very mad. I hope we can be friends again?" Fred asked Eliza hopefully. Instead of answering him, she hugged him fiercely. Fred grinned and hugged her back, burying his face in her hair.

"Of course we're friends!" Eliza whispered in his ear before releasing him. She couldn't keep the smile off her face and Fred seemed to have the same problem. So laughing with each other they walked to the stands and talked a bit more. They had to talk some things through and catch up with one another before they could really be best friends again.

* * *

"What about George?" Eliza asked when they were done with their conversation. Fred looked at his feet awkwardly and shuffled them.

"He... he isn't ready to forgive you yet," he said uncomfortably.

"But... why not?" Eliza stammered. She was so happy for making up with Fred that she thought it would be a piece of cake with George. Apparently not. Hurt, she sighed and fought back tears.

"That's not my place to tell. Hey, don't cry! He'll come around!" the only Weasley twin she was on speaking terms with now soothed.

Eliza's tears spilled over but she immediately wiped them away.

"I hope so. How will he take it that you and I are friends again?" She waited anxiously for Fred's answer, but he took his time.

"I really don't know," he responded eventually, "but I don't think he will take it too well. We always tell each other everything, so he won't see this as a good thing."

"Oh."

They were silent for a very long time, both of them looking at the sunset

"Come on," Fred said finally. "I'll take you back to your Common Room. You really shouldn't walk alone anymore."

Eliza smiled at him and together they walked to the Ravenclaw Tower. They said goodnight and Eliza went to bed. Smiling, she allowed to herself to revel in the feeling of having one of her best friends back.  
_One down, one to go_, she thought. _I know Fred's more sensitive than George, and I'm really happy he's my friend again, but I just want George back! I miss him... we were always just a bit closer than the others... and on top of all that, I really like him! I hope Fred'll talk some sense in him. I can't handle fighting with George! We have to talk soon...  
_  
Eliza set her Alarm Spell and fell asleep, planning to have a talk with George the next day.

* * *

**A/N: Hi everyone! I'm very sorry for not updating earlier :( My life was just too hectic, what with school and preparing for Rome... I know this short chapter doesn't make up for the long wait, but at least Fred and Eliza made up! I promise next chapter will be longer :) I hope you forgive me and thanks for reading!**

**First of all, thank you to all my reviewers: Lobo de Fuego, bluemickey22, indescribable music, disneyfanatic09, owhappyday, YukiKyoMomiji and HermioneIsMe23**  
**I'm always happy when I get a review :D**

**Secondly to everyone who alerted/favourited, thanks! It means a lot :)**

**And a huge thank you to my beta, owhappyday, of course! Excited about Rome yet? xD At least we know how to order ice cream and pizza, so we won't starve! :P**

**As you may have gathered, I'm going to Rome! We're leaving in a week and then we'll be gone for another week... I'll try to update before that, I think I can manage that :P So before next Wednesday, I'll have updated! (can someone remind me of my promise? I'm very forgetful...)**

Before I forget, my fiftiest reviewer will get a preview of next chapter!

**Anyway, thank you for reading the chapter, please review and I hope you'll have a great week!**


	15. Of Annoyances and Announcements

When Eliza entered the Great Hall the next morning she saw Fred waving her over from the Gryffindor table. She didn't spot George, which was weird.

The raven-haired girl sat down next to Fred, wished him a good morning and grabbed a few slices of bread and a cup of tea.

"Why isn't G—George with you?" Eliza stammered. Fred jerked his arm away and shifted his eyes a bit. _Not a good sign_, Eliza thought.

"He... I... I told him that I talked to you last night and he didn't take it too well... I think he'll be down in a minute," Fred said apologetically.  
_  
George didn't take it too well, huh? Perhaps it's not that smart to try to talk to him today... I might as well take a while, give him some time to think everything through..._were the Ravenclaw's thoughts.

And yes, George did come down. Eliza hadn't noticed him until he stood right before her, plopping down on a seat. He sent Fred a weird look and then nodded at Eliza coldly.

"George," she answered, also nodding in his direction.

The rest of the breakfast passed in silence after which Eliza went to her Arithmancy class. When that ended she hurried to the Transfiguration classroom for her double period with McGonagall.

"Settle down class," McGonagall said, waiting till all the usual noise of a group of students settling in had died down. "Today we will practice turning feathers into birds, _nonverbally_. You all know the spell, so good luck!"

The Professor flicked her wand and on every table a feather appeared. Eliza swished her wand over and over again, saying the spell in her head but she had no success. Grace, who was sitting next to her, got it right after trying a dozen times and she was now making an effort in silencing her parrot nonverbally.  
_  
I. Just. Can't. Get. It. RIGHT! _Eliza thought frustrated, swishing her wand more enthusiastically. At the end of the lesson she still couldn't do it so she made plans to practice nonverbal spells whenever she had time.  
McGonagall asked the Gryffindors to stay behind so Grace and Eliza went to their next lesson, Charms, alone. Professor Flitwick started class on time, asking his students about weather spells. The Gryffindors came in when he was just finishing his pop quiz and they were all whispering excitedly.

"Silence please! Now, I want you to make pairs. One of you will make it rain while the other one will protect both of you from it. Good luck!"

Grace had no problem with making it rain, since she had managed the nonverbal spell during Transfiguration. Eliza had more trouble, the rain kept drenching her and Grace.

Near the end of the lesson she had made some progress, the rain drops now split up a bit above their heads but they kept hitting the girls. When the bell rang Eliza murmured a quick heating and drying spell so that she and Grace wouldn't catch a cold.

The Ravenclaws were about to go to lunch when Flitwick called them back, stating that he needed to talk to his House. Eliza and Grace sent each other confused looks and sat back down.

"Now, as you all know, Hogwarts is hosting the Triwizard Tournament this time. This does not only include the three tasks the champions have to endure, but also a dance. There will be a Ball during the Christmas holidays, the Yule Ball!" By this time Professor Flitwick got so excited that he almost tumbled off his high stack of books.  
_  
A Ball? _Eliza thought, _does that mean I'll have to dance? And wear a dress? And... Circe, do we have to bring dates?_

"The Yule Ball is meant for dancing, so the Heads of the Houses have decided to give you a lesson. The first 4th and 5th years of each house will get the lesson with their Head, the 6th and 7th years will get them from all of us. The Ball is not compulsory, you may also go home for Christmas. This year we have the option of staying at the castle till the Yule Ball and then leave for your homes the day after. The Ball is open for 4th years and up, but you are allowed to invite dates from the lower years. Ah! I almost forgot! We expect you to bring dates. They may be from every year, House or even from outside Hogwarts. The dress code is, of course, formal, so that means dressrobes for all of you! Now, I think I've kept you from your food long enough, you're dismissed!"

* * *

"A Ball? I never would have thought that!" Grace gushed over lunch. "Who do you want to go with? Oh, we should buy dressrobes! This weekend is Hogsmeade weekend I think, so we can hopefully find some nice dresses there... I wonder who's going to ask me. Do you think Viktor Kruml will?" Grace gazed dreamily at him and played with her fork.

Eliza quenched the uneasy feelings in her stomach. She didn't like this dance at all. It'd bring a lot of hassle, and the school's gossips would get enough rumours to talk about! What with the dates and all... Of course, Eliza wanted George to ask her, but she knew there wasn't a high chance of that, they still weren't speaking. She didn't know that many boys, Fred, Lee, a few boys from her own house and Fred's brothers and their friends.

Perhaps she should just ask Fred and get it over with. But for some reason, that felt like betraying George, even though they had no relationship at all and George probably didn't even like her. No, going with Fred would be too weird for Eliza, but who then...?

Eliza was still pondering this when a very familiar owl swooped down and pecked her hand.

"Ouch! Stop that Rosalinde!" she scolded her father's owl, before grabbing the letter attached to her claw. Eliza read the letter quickly and faced Grace again.

"Grace, my Dad wants to meet me this weekend, so I'll go dress shopping with you after that okay?"

Grace nodded but became distracted at the words 'dress shopping' and went in a daydream, no doubt about what kind of dress she wanted to buy. Eliza sighed and went back to her food, wishing for tomorrow to come sooner because she wanted to talk to her father.

* * *

When tomorrow finally arrived, Eliza dressed as fast as she could. It was freezing outside, so she wore warm clothes and took her scarf and gloves with her downstairs.

After a hurried breakfast Eliza said goodbye to Grace who had planned to go to Hogsmeade with Carmen till Eliza was done and they could go looking for dresses.

* * *

Shivering, a very cold Ravenclaw entered The Three Broomsticks and asked Rosmerta where the room her father had told her he would be was. She entered it, greeted her father and sat as close to the fire as she dared. They small talked for a while, but then Eliza's father sighed heavily and asked his daughter about the particulars of her attack, again. Eliza quickly summed up everything she remembered and watched her father think.

"As you know," her father finally began, "I have taken part in many searches for Death Eaters after the First Wizarding War. Some of the people I caught claimed innocence, others were sent to Azbakan. It is not unlikely that someone I caught a long a time ago wants to take revenge on me by attacking you. I don't know who it is, yet, but I'm very worried about you. I know you don't want to leave Hogwarts, but I want you to make sure you're never alone, or at least that someone knows where you are, all right?"

"I'll try Dad," Eliza replied. To be honest, she wanted to forget about the whole attack. It had brought nothing but pain to her and the ones she loved. Her fight with George started with arguing about that attack! She wanted desperately to change the subject.

"Did you and Mom pass your Apparition tests on the first try as well?" she asked her father, who sent her a look that clearly said that he knew she was trying to change the subject.

"Your mother did, I didn't," he said sheepishly, rubbing his neck. "I left almost all my hair so you could say I Splinched myself. I got it on the second try though," Eliza's father laughed. "You do know that I'm very proud of you, don't you? As a matter of fact, I still owe you a present!"

Eliza blushed. "Thanks Dad, but you don't have to give me anything."

"Nonsense! There is a Ball coming up at Hogwarts if I heard correctly, do you already have dressrobes?"

"No, not yet. Grace and I are going shopping today," Eliza replied, wondering what her father was getting at.

"Perfect! I take it you'll go to Gladrag's Wizardwear?"

"Of course. It's the only clothing shop in Hogsmeade!" Eliza answered confused.

"You may buy yourself dressrobes as a gift. Just tell Gladrag that I'll pay for it, all right? The price doesn't matter, you deserve something beautiful after all!"

"Thanks Dad! But does that mean you have to go already?"

"Yes, unfortunately. It's very busy at the Ministry, I could only get the morning off. But I have some time left, don't worry."

Eliza said goodbye to her Dad when he had to go back to his work and went to the main room of the pub. Luckily she spotted Grace right away, she was sitting at a large table with a lot of people.

"Grace! Are you ready to go now?" Eliza called while walking towards the table.

"Hi! Is your father gone already? Yes, we should go now, otherwise all the nice dresses will be gone!" Grace stood up, said goodbye to the others and the two girls went outside.

* * *

**A/N: Hi! I remembered my promise :) This chapter is longer than the last one!**

**My plane to Rome leaves in about 24 hours and I have to be at school at 11 tomorrow morning. I'm very excited, but also a bit worried about the trip... Rome is one of the most criminal cities in Europe apparently, so I'll have to take great care :S**  
**On a happier note, I'm going to visit the Collosseum, Pompey, Villa Borghese, loads of churches and more! Unfortunately it's very warm there, 27 degrees the whole week!**

**So it'll be a while until I update again, first to Rome, then I have a very busy time at school and I'll be in a post-Rome dip (or so the teachers say)... but I'll try to write as often as possible!**

**To the thank you's: my reviewers, bluemickey22, angel2u, disneyfanatic09, Lobo de Fuego, YukiKyoMomiji, owhappyday and BritanyJean, thank you very much! Reviews make me happy, I have more than 50 now! It's incredible :) So thank you, thank you, thank you!**

**Everyone who alerted/favourited deserves a thank you as well, of course, so thanks! I'm glad you liked the story :P**

**My wonderful beta, owhappyday, who took breaks from packing to improve this chapter, thank you! I'll save you some gum for tomorrow in the plane (although you've probably brought you own...) It's a bit unreal, to think that we'll be in Rome in little more than a day! Here we come, delicious ice creams and pizza's! See you tomorrow :)**

**And now just a bit of random information: did you know that Gladrag isn't such a positive name in the Netherlands? 'Glad' means 'smooth' and 'rag's' are of course just 'rags.' So you could say that Gladrag is a person who sells rags and is very cunning and sly... not a very good combination :P**

**So, I hope I haven't bored you to death with my extremely long Author's Note! I think half of the people who decided to read it quit after the first paragraph xD**

**Thank you for reading, I hope you'll review and... have a great week :)**


	16. Of Dresses and Dread

Entering Gladrag's Wizardwear, Eliza and Grace noticed that they weren't the only ones with plans to buy dressrobes today. Girls from every house swarmed the place, and even a few unfortunate boyfriends were there. Eliza looked at Grace and sighed. "I'd be surprised if we're even able to _see_the dresses!"

"I'm sure it won't be that bad. It's almost lunch time, so I think a lot of them will leave to eat somewhere," Grace replied.

The two friends went to the nearest dress rack and browsed the clothing. A few minutes later, it seemed as if Grace's prediction would come true, since a lot of people were suddenly leaving the shop.

"Finally, more space!" sighed Grace, walking to another rack. "Do you have any idea what colour dress you want Eliza?"

"I'm not sure. I think green... or purple. What about you?"

"I like blue, so if I find a pretty blue dress, I'd be happy," Grace smiled.

And soon enough, Grace grabbed a blue dress and disappeared in the changing room. When she emerged again, she twirled before the mirror and looked at Eliza with questioning eyes.

The dress was a deep, dark blue with thick straps and an empire waist. It fell to the ground and had jewels on the belt below the bust. It looked beautiful on her so Eliza told her so and Grace beamed before going back in the changing room. **(link to the dress, just delete the spaces: http: / www. stylehive. com/ bookmark/ marc- bouwer- glamit- blue- purple- ombr%C3%A9- silk- chiffon- dress- at- bluefly- 470704)**

"Now we just have to find you a dress!" With renewed enthusiasm Grace went back to browsing the shop. Eliza saw a nice dress so she changed into it and looked in the mirror. It was strapless, with glitter on the top part. The skirt went down to the floor and was gathered at a few places. The colour was a dark green, almost the colour of her eyes. **(link, without the spaces: http: / nexteve. co. uk/ product. php? productid=17289)**

When Eliza stepped out of the changing room Grace confirmed her own thoughts, that the colour wasn't exactly right. A shop attendant heard them and turned around.

"If you don't like the colour Miss, I can just change it for you," he said.

"Oh, yes please! Could you turn it into purple?"

The shop attendant waved his wand and the dress became a beautiful purple.

"Thank you! This looks prettier, don't you think Eliza?" Grace said.

"Yes, I think I want this one. I'll just change back now."

* * *

The Ravenclaws approached the long queue of girls waiting to buy their dresses and lined up.

"This is going to take ages!" Eliza complained to Grace.

"Yes... I'm bored already," Grace answered.

Ten minutes later it seemed as if the queue wasn't any shorter so Grace groaned.

"I hate this!" she muttered. "This shop should have more pay desks!"

Eliza agreed and both girls went back to staring at random places. Eliza was just staring out the window, wondering how long it would be until she could finally leave the shop, when she saw a few familiar boys walking by. George looked up and caught her eye, so Eliza was quick to smile at him, hoping to solve some of the tension between them.

Luckily, George's lips went up into a grin and he nudged Fred, who was walking beside him. Fred followed George's gaze and waved at the girls when he saw them. Together the two boys approached Eliza and Grace and joined them in the queue.

"Are you having fun?" Fred greeted them.

"Oh, tremendously!" Eliza answered sarcastically. "As you can see, it'll take ages for us to be at the front of the queue!"

"Right… I think we may be able to help. George?"

George grabbed something from his Zonko's bag, went outside and threw it in the air.

"What's he doing?" Grace whispered, looking out the window curiously.

"He's distracting everyone," Fred explained, looking as if it was his birthday. Suddenly he started counting: "It'll work in five, four, three, two —"  
_  
One, _Eliza finished, looking at George in awe. The mysterious thing he had taken with him outside turned out to be a giant ball. It was now floating in the air, sprouting colours everywhere! People closest to the window screamed and clapped. Some people got hit by one of the coloured light beams and as a result, they changed into that colour! Eliza laughed out loud, especially because none of the coloured people had realized it yet.

As more and more people figured out what was happening, a lot of them went outside. This meant that the queue was a lot shorter suddenly. Grace was next in line, so she quickly bought her dress and stepped away so that Eliza could take her place. The attendant rang the dress up, every few seconds glancing outside to see what was happening, and told Eliza the sum.

"My father said he'd pay for the dress. I believe he has contacted you?"

"What's your father's name?"

"Alex Weber."

"Mr Weber? Oh, of course! I'll send him the bill, here is your dress!"

"Thank you," Eliza replied, and she made her way out of the shop with Fred and Grace.

When they reached George he was beaming at them proudly, all the while trying to grab the colouring ball.

"What on earth is that thing?" Eliza exclaimed upon seeing the giant ball shrink.

"It's a Giant Colour-me ball. If one of those beams of colour you saw hit someone, that person'll be that colour for an hour!" George explained, still jumping up to reach the ball.  
_  
Wow, we're having a civil conversation here! This is better than I'd hoped for...  
_  
"Let me help," Eliza said, glad about the progress in their relationship. "_Accio Colour-me ball!"  
_  
The ball zoomed towards Eliza who grabbed it from the air and tossed it to George.

"There you go."

"Thanks El! Why didn't I think of that?" he wondered.

"Because you're you of course!" Fred jested, poking his twin in the stomach.

"And what's that supposed to mean? You're my twin, we're the same!" George frowned.

"No, you aren't," Eliza spoke without thinking. She was just too amused by their conversation.

"We are –"

"—not the same?" The twins said, taking turns speaking.

"Yeah Eliza, I've always wondered how you can keep the two of them apart. I usually just take a guess at who is who," Grace entered the conversation. In the meantime the four friends had walked on to Hogwarts and had now almost reached the gates, still seeing the occasional red or purple person.

"It's easy. George has more freckles than Fred in his face and their eyes are just... different" Eliza blushed, trying to explain. Grace inspected them both but she shook her head.

"I just don't see it. Those freckles you talk about I don't even notice and their eyes look exactly the same to me."

"Our own mother can't even tell us apart El, so you have to have some special gift," George mused.

"Perhaps, I don't know. I just don't think you're that much alike." Wanting to change the subject Eliza asked the boys: "Do you have dressrobes for the Ball yet?"

"Yes, our mother bought them for us during the summer holidays. They're not terrific, but at least they're better than Ron's." At this, both boys guffawed in laughter, holding their sides and almost toppling over. Eliza couldn't help but laugh a bit with them, although she didn't even know what said dressrobes looked like. When Fred finally had enough air to talk again, he said: "I take it you were just buying dressrobes, so I don't have to ask if you have them already."

Grace nodded. "Yes, we've bought beautiful dresses! But we won't show them, you'll have to wait till the Yule Ball," she said, eyes twinkling in amusement. Both girls knew the Weasleys were very curious. Luckily Eliza had thought to charm their bags so their dresses wouldn't fold or get dirty, but that charm also worked against searching boys. George didn't know this, so he tried to put his hand in Eliza's bag, making sure she was distracted by his brother.

All of a sudden, Eliza heard a yell coming from her left so she quickly turned around.

"George! What on earth do you think you're doing?" she asked, scandalized.

"_Ouch_—I wanted to— _ouch!_— see your dress." Eliza looked at his hand curiously, and seeing that it bled, she put her hand on his arm to stop him and grabbed her wand. Grace and Fred were still walking, so when Grace looked back Eliza just waved them on, she would take care of George.

"Don't move your hand. That was very stupid George, you know I tend to charm my bags!" Waving her wand, she muttered "_episkey_" and the wound on George's hand healed.

"Thanks El! I'm sorry, I was just curious," he said, looking properly ashamed. _That's the second time he has called me El today. I'll never again take it for granted, it only sounds this way coming from him, not from anyone else, not even Fred.  
_  
"Look George —"

"Eliza, I —"_  
_  
Both fell silent, waiting for the other to continue. George motioned for Eliza to talk, so she did.

"I'm very sorry George, for everything that has happened. And I don't mean just the Protection Spell on my bag, but _everything. _I already apologized to Fred, I should have told you about my attack in confidence." Eliza bowed her head, waiting for George's answer.

"It's not your fault El," he began softly. "Fred and I should have talked to you as well, and we shouldn't have blown up about you not telling us something. You're allowed to have secrets, even though I wish you'd tell me everything. I'm sorry as well, shall we just forget everything and go on as we used to?" George wasn't even completely finished with his short speech when the breath was knocked out of him by Eliza, who grabbed him in a fierce hug.

"Thank you," she whispered in his ear, "I've really missed you, you're my best friend."

"Yeah, friends... I've missed you too." Was it just her, or did he sound upset? Eliza pulled away and smiled at him, trying to cheer him up she grabbed his hand.

"Come on! We have to catch up to Fred and Grace!"

Laughing loudly, his sombre mood seemingly forgotten, George pulled her with him, almost running, through the first snowflakes of the year.

* * *

**A/N: Hi everyone! I'm back from Rome, so if you don't want to hear about that, just skip this :P  
It was amazing! Undoubtedly the best week I've ever had :D We've seen the Colosseum, Forum Romanum, Pantheon, Trevi Fountain, Pompey and so much more... it was exhausting, but completely worth it! Our hotel was very nice as well, we had the best rooms! xD And the ice creams were, of course, delicious! I had at least one a day... I miss them :( Actually, I miss Rome as a whole, but I'm sure I'll go there again sometime. So if you ever get the chance to go to Rome, take it! You won't regret it :D Of course, it depends on the people you're with ;) I want to thank everyone who was with me in Rome for the amazing week! I have no idea if they'll ever read it, but okay :)**

**On to the other thank-you's: Lobo de Fuego, YukiKyoMomiji and owhappyday, thank you for reviewing!**

Also thanks to everyone who favourited/alerted :)

And, last but not least, owhappyday for beta'ing! And for sticking with me in Rome, it was fun! And 'gezellig' which has no translation into English xD We are going again in a few years, aren't we? ;)

I hope you enjoyed reading and please leave a review!


	17. Of Dancing and Dinners

In the following days, leading up to the Yule Ball, the school grew more and more excited. Whispers followed every champion, deducing who would be their date or gossiping about dressrobes, colours and more dates. Eliza and Grace tried not to participate in this, but Carmen soon got them excited about the whole event as well.

Two weeks before the Yule Ball all the Ravenclaws from 4th till 7th year were called to one of the biggest classrooms of Hogwarts. Once there, they split up into boys at one side of the room and girls at the other. Grace and Eliza looked at each other quizzically and joined the other girls of their year. Professor Flitwick entered the room as soon as everyone was inside and closed the doors.

"Good afternoon students! As you well know, the Yule Ball is coming up and I have called you all here to see how well can dance."

A lot of gasps of horror were audible throughout the room and Eliza and Grace shared a flabbergasted look. _Dancing? _Eliza thought. _I haven't properly danced in... two years! Mom taught me a long time ago and after the divorce Dad sometimes danced with me... but not in a very long time. _

"All right, all right! Settle down please! I'd like it if the Ravenclaws would keep up the honour of the school. If everyone would please stand up and find a partner we can start!"

Eliza looked around, trying to find someone she knew a bit so they could dance... Unfortunately, she saw that all of the boys in her year were already paired off. Grace had found a very willing partner in Kenneth Towler, a very polite boy who had had a crush on Grace for _ages_. Too bad for him that she never noticed, but perhaps this dance would change that.

Still looking around, Eliza noticed that almost everyone was already paired off! She looked at Professor Flitwick anxiously but he didn't catch her gaze for at that very moment the doors burst open and in came… Chris Lions, Grace's older brother. Chris flushed when he saw everyone watching him and walked to Flitwick as fast as he could. They held a whispered conversation that Eliza couldn't hear and then Chris walked towards her.

"So, Weber, may I have this dance?"  
_  
Finally, a partner! _Eliza thought.

"Yes, of course," she replied. Chris grabbed her hand and she placed her other one on his shoulder as he placed his on her waist.

Professor Flitwick waved his wand and suddenly there was music seemingly coming out of the walls. Chris lead Eliza easily into a waltz and they seemed to float through the room. Eliza fell into the steps as if she had danced all her life, and Chris was a very good dancer. Some other couples were faring pretty well, but none of them danced as natural as them, as far as Eliza could estimate.

When Flitwick let the music stop and everyone quit dancing, or trying to dance, he immediately approached Chris and Eliza.

"Have you had dancing lessons? You are both extraordinary dancers!"

"Thank you," Eliza blushed.

"Yes, I've had lessons when I was younger. You too, Weber?" Chris replied.

Eliza nodded and Flitwick looked pleased.

"You two are a good example for the others. I want to ask you to waltz slowly so that everyone can follow the moves. Then, if you please, you could couple with other students to teach them. Is that all right?"

Eliza and Chris consented and the dancing class went on as Flitwick had said.

* * *

Eliza was exhausted when she entered the Great Hall that evening, and her feet hurt. Groaning, she plopped down on the seat next to George at the Gryffindor table.

"Hello! Where did you and Grace disappear to?" George asked.

"Flitwick gathered all of us to give us a dancing lesson... for the Ball" she added upon seeing his blank face.

"A lesson? In dancing? Do you think McGonagall is going to make us go through that as well?" his twin asked, worried.

"Probably," Eliza sighed. "But it's not as bad as you think. I had quite a good time actually... until Flitwick split me and Chris up and made us dance with other people to correct their dancing."

"Who's Chris?" Fred asked casually, looking at George with a worried gaze for some reason.

"He's Grace's brother. You know him, Chris Lions, the 7th year Ravenclaw?"  
"Oh, right! I remember him! He's a bit of a know-it-all, isn't he?"

"Fred! That's not nice! He's a very kind boy, and Grace's sister! And a very good dancer..."

George looked a bit red by this time so Eliza looked at him worriedly. Deciding that it wasn't anything serious, she grabbed some food and they started dinner.

* * *

The next day, Grace and Eliza were unable to find the boys, but they soon realised it was their turn for a dancing lesson. Taking their books with them, they seated themselves in the Library at one of the windows.

More hours of that afternoon were spent with gazing at the falling snowflakes than with doing their homework, but they enjoyed themselves.

Making a quick stop at Ravenclaw Tower to dump their books and grab some coats, mittens, scarves and hats they made their way to the Great Hall for dinner. Upon entering the room, they saw that the twins and Lee were not there yet, so they sat at the Ravenclaw table for a change.

When the boys sat down at this table as well, they were muttering and complaining about their dancing lesson, just as Eliza and Grace had already suspected.

"It can't have been that bad!" Eliza said, looking at their long faces.

"Yes, it can," Fred responded, glaring at the table. "George and I have never danced before, and certainly not a waltz! I can't remember the steps, listen to the music and stick to the rhythm at the same time!"

"It was horrible," was George's only reply. He put some of his favourite foods on his plate and started wolfing it down as if eating was his only consolation.

The rest of dinner was spent with the boys complaining about having to dance, and the girls trying to cheer them up by saying that they would practice with them. Eventually they agreed, and they were to meet at the Room of Requirement on Tuesday.

* * *

After dinner, Grace persuaded Eliza, Fred, George, Lee and Carmen to go outside and have a snow fight. They stayed out until it became too dark to see the snowballs and then they went inside, all wet, cold and happy.

Lee was the worst of them all, Fred had charmed a huge snowball to fall right on top of him. He hadn't seen it coming and was therefore drenched in snow.

After taking his revenge on Fred by continually attacking him with snowballs for fifteen minutes, they made a truce and teamed up against the others. They left a wet trail behind them on the stairs, and the first thing all of them did when they entered their dormitories was taking a long, hot shower and put on some dry clothes.

* * *

**A/N: I feel terrible for not updating in such a long time! The last few weeks of school were awfully busy and then the holidays came up and I've been away for four weeks... :(**

**I know this chapter doesn't make up for the long wait, I'm not satisfied with it. I'm only uploading it because I wanted to give you another chapter before I'm leaving later today. This chapter hasn't been beta'ed yet because owhappyday is gone, but I hope she'll look at it next week :P**

**I also promise I'll have another chapter for you next week, when I'm home again :)**  
**  
I really should go pack now...**

**Anyway, thank you to YukiKyoMomiji, angel2u, owhappyday, Lobo de Fuego, disneyfanatic09, ForeverTeamEdward13 and starrily-night for reviewing!**

**And everyone who favourited/alerted :)**

**Thank you for reading and please leave a review! :D**

**(Now I'm going to pack...)**


	18. Of Misunderstandings and Music

On Monday George behaved in a peculiar way. He looked at Eliza weirdly, whispered with Fred more than usual and looked like he was building up courage for something. When Eliza asked Grace what she thought about this, Grace just looked at her with an _if-you-don't-understand-what-is-going-on-you're-even-weirder-than-I-thought _expression so she didn't ask again.

* * *

After a few half-started questions from George, Monday was finally over and Tuesday started. If possible, George behaved even worse. He couldn't seem to look Eliza in the eye and was avoiding her questions. Eliza hoped it would all be solved by the evening, when they were going to have their dancing practice.

* * *

It appeared to be so, because when Eliza and Grace met the boys at the Room of Requirement that evening, George behaved pretty normal. They had taken Angelina with them, because she claimed to "have two left feet, which nobody notices when I'm on a broom luckily." Fred collapsed in a very feminine fit of giggles, which left the three girls to look at each other wearily and roll their eyes in the universal 'boys are so stupid' gesture.

Having paced besides the wall for three times, Eliza opened the door that appeared. Entering someplace that looked beautiful, she could hardly conceal her gasp of awe.

A shining floor, high ceiling, huge windows and flowers made it look exactly like an old-fashioned ballroom.

"All right, how do you think we're going to get some music in here?" Angelina asked, looking around.

"Well," Eliza started, "I know some charms... they're very complicated, but I'm sure they'll work."

She was just going to begin when there was suddenly music.

"Very good El! It didn't seem like you were doing anything and still there's music!" George said admiringly.

Eliza blushed and answered: "That's because I didn't do this. I guess the Room of Requirement took care of the music."

"Anyway," Grace said, saving Eliza from further embarrassment, "let's get started!" She walked to the centre of the room and looked at the boys expectantly. "So, which one of you is going to dance with me?"

Fred, George and Lee shared a look after which Fred shrugged and bowed to Grace.

"May I have this dance, m'lady?"

Grace laughed and accepted his hand. Both of them then turned to the others who were still standing alone. "Well come on! Just pair up, it's not that hard!" Fred shouted, enjoying the faces of this friends.

George sighed and walked towards Angelina determinedly so that Eliza and Lee remained. Eliza ignored the stab she felt in her chest when George didn't even look at her and looked at Lee.

The three couples stood awkwardly next to each other until the music swelled and Eliza began to dance almost unconsciously. Lee followed her lead and soon they waltzed through the room together, while Eliza gave Lee advice on his dancing skills. The other four followed their example.

Grace and Fred danced... enthusiastically, so to say. There was a bit of standing on each other's toes and miscommunication, but they had fun and gradually their dancing became better.

George and Angelina, on the other hand, didn't fare so well. They both had no idea what they were doing so their dance looked... weird.

After half an hour, Grace had had enough of this and said: "Stop it! This isn't working. Eliza and Angelina, you two had better switch partners. That way, every couple has at least one person who knows how to dance." Her words, although a bit harsh, were obeyed so George and Eliza stood opposite each other, looking at each other awkwardly.

At last, George put his hand on her waist and picked up her right hand. "What do we do now?" he asked.

"I'll lead, so you just have to follow my steps."

And Eliza started waltzing slowly, so George could mimic her steps without falling out of rhythm. When this had gone well for a while, Eliza decided to really waltz. Without warning, she fastened her steps and twirls and assumed George would follow her.

He did try, it has to be said, but he just couldn't keep up. Eliza was a bit disappointed, she wanted to dance! But she slowed her steps once more out of compassion. George smiled at her in appreciation and she had to ignore the somersaults her stomach was making once more.

They danced a while longer until George said that he wanted to try a higher tempo. Eliza obeyed him happily and started matching her steps to the music. George could keep up a lot better this time, so they twirled on the dance floor till curfew. When they separated to head back to their dormitories, Eliza felt a hand on her arm so she looked over her shoulder to see George.

"Thanks for dancing with me El. Without you I would still be terrible!" he smiled and squeezed her hand. Eliza smiled back and said goodnight before hurrying after Grace.

* * *

After classes the next day Eliza found herself walking through the corridors with George. They were silent, just wandering a bit before dinner. All of a sudden, George coughed a bit and grabbed her arm to make her stop. Turning towards her, he took a deep breath and said: "El, do you want –"

"Eliza! Could I talk to you for a minute? It's about the Yule Ball!" said a voice which made George stop talking. Turning around, they saw Cedric Diggory almost running through the hallway, looking breathless.

"Yes, sure Cedric. But would you mind waiting a minute? I'm having a conversation with George, so..." Eliza said, trailing off awkwardly when she saw George looking down with an indescribable emotion on his face.

"No, that's all right Eliza. I'll see you at dinner," he said stiffly, turned around with his hands in his pockets and walked away.

"I'm sorry Eliza, I didn't want to interrupt anything," Cedric apologised, running a hand through his hair.

Eliza laughed bitterly. "I don't think you were interrupting anything to be honest. But you wanted to talk to me?"

"Yes, you know Cho Chang, don't you? She's a Ravenclaw in the year below us."

"Yes, I know her, although we're not friends or anything."

"I just need some advice on how to ask her to go to the Ball with me," Cedric blushed, looking at the ground and shuffling his feet.

"You need advice?" Eliza laughed. "Cedric, you're about the most popular boy in the school! You're Hogwarts Champion! I'm sure if you just walk up to her, ask her if she wants to talk with you for a minute and then ask her to the Yule Ball, she'll say 'yes.' Perhaps you can throw in something about how she's the only one you'd want to go with and that you really hope she hasn't been asked already."

"Okay, I think I'll do that. Thanks Eliza!" with a huge grin Cedric walked off, presumably going to ask Cho a certain question.

* * *

That night at dinner was the first time Eliza saw George after the Cedric-debacle. She had talked to Grace as soon as she arrived at the Ravenclaw Tower, and her best friend had gushed that George was going to ask her to the Yule Ball. Everything pointed in that direction: the looks, embarrassment, the almost-question...

So Eliza entered the Great Hall filled with anticipation. She planned to give George another opportunity to ask her his question after eating. But when the two Ravenclaws happily plopped down by their friends, Eliza's laugh slid off her face.

Lee sat immediately in front of her and he looked really disappointed and angry. She bowed towards him worriedly and asked in a low voice what was the matter. Lee scowled a bit in George's direction and then answered in a whisper: "George asked Alicia to the Ball! And she _accepted _him!" He looked just like Eliza felt, miserable.

How could he do that? I really thought he was going to ask me...

Grace, acting like the great friend she was, glared at George until he felt her stare and looked up.

"What? Why are you looking at me like that?" he asked. He purposefully didn't look in Eliza's direction.

"Why on earth did you ask Alicia to the Ball? You _know_that Lee likes her, and he is your best friend! How could you do that to him?"

George swallowed and looked at Lee, guilt written on his face.

"I'm sorry, I just... I needed to ask someone..."

"Right, _someone_! You could have asked someone else! You knew I was planning on asking her!" Lee whisper-shouted, his face red.

"Who else should I have asked then?" George asked, his face also getting redder and redder.

"I don't know! Angelina, Katie, Grace or Eliza!"

George's ears became tomato-red and he looked at his plate, muttering something.

Lee had heard it apparently, because he replied: "Eliza doesn't have a date already, I'm sure!" Turning towards Eliza: "Have you?"

"No, of course not. I would've told you!" she replied defensively.

"See?" Lee said to George, triumph in his voice. "You could've asked her, then I wouldn't be angry at you."

Silence reigned between them for a long while, until Lee looked up and said determinedly: "Eliza, would you like to go to the Ball with me?" Eliza was shocked. _Me? Going to the ball with... Lee? Well, why not... It's not like there's someone else I'd rather go with, and Lee and I _are _friends... and he can dance!  
_  
"Yes, I would love to. Thanks Lee," she smiled at him. George looked away from them and began talking to Fred sounding rather forced.  
_  
Well, _Eliza thought. _At least I have a date now! I'm sure we'll have a great time together._

But she couldn't help but feel a bit sad at realising that she wasn't going to go with George, and that they probably wouldn't get a chance to dance, or even talk together at the Ball.

* * *

**A/N: Hi everyone! This is one of my longest chapters_ ever_, I'm sure! So I hope you've enjoyed it... I know that many of you wanted George and Eliza to go together, but... There are always 'but's'! I'm sorry ;)**

**Okay, I want to thank angel2u, Lobo de Fuego, YukiKyoMomiji and owhappyday for reviewing and everyone who alerted/favourited! :)**

**Of course, my amazing, fantastic, wonderful beta owhappyday: THANK YOU! I'll see you in a couple of hours :D**

**Thanks for reading and please leave a review! :P**


	19. Of Preparations and Pressure

**A/N: I feel terribly guilty for not updating so long! I've just been busy, with school and life in general...  
**

* * *

The days flew by, and before anyone knew it, the Christmas Holidays had started and it was the day before the Yule ball. In the girls' dormitories an anxious and excited atmosphere ruled. Last minute arrangements were made concerning shoes, clothes, hair and, in some extraordinary cases, dates.

Amidst all this chaos, Eliza and Grace sat talking quietly on top of Grace's four-poster. They were discussing their dates, just like about half of the female inhabitants of Hogwarts.

"So, you had no idea he liked you and wanted to ask you out?" Eliza whispered.

"No, I really didn't know! It was so unexpected..." Grace replied.

"What did he say exactly? And where? And what did you say?" her best friend asked curiously.

"Well, he asked me when I ran into him at the Library... quite literally, I may add," while saying this, her cheeks became a bit red. "He steadied me, asked if I was alright... And then, all of a sudden, he said: 'Grace, I er... I've liked you for a while now, and I... I was wondering if... if you wanted to accompany me to the Yule Ball? I know I'm late with asking you, and I understand if you already have a date, but I –' Here I cut him off and told him that of course I wanted to go to the Yule Ball with him, that I didn't have a date yet, and that I was sure we would have a wonderful time."

"And then? What did Kenneth say then?" Eliza asked, hanging on every word.

"He asked the colour of my dress and after that we set a time to meet each other tomorrow and said goodbye," Grace finished telling her tale.  
The two Ravenclaws continued talking for a while longer, until peace had entered their dorm room again and they decided to go to sleep.

* * *

The next morning Eliza woke up when a shoe hit her in the face.

"What?" she said groggily, rubbing her face and simultaneously throwing the shoe at a random place.

"Oh, I'm sorry Eliza!" a cheery Carmen said, her arms full of various items, all related to clothes or make-up in some way or another.

"Don't worry about it," Eliza replied. "I'm sure I won't have a bruise, so it's fine. What on earth are you going to do with all that stuff? It's not even half pas nine yet!" she yawned.

"Half past nine! Oh no! I have to do a million things before tonight! I better get started. I'll see you later Eliza!" and she whizzed away.

"Good luck and see you!" Eliza yelled at her back. Looking around the room, she noticed that Grace was still fast asleep and the other girls had left already. So she left her bed, dressed, left a note for Grace to tell her that she was already downstairs for breakfast and then left the Tower.

* * *

After a quick but delicious breakfast of toast, baked beans and eggs Eliza went back upstairs to grab her coat and scarf so she could go outside for a while without freezing to death. She walked to the lake and sat down next to it, but only after making a chair appear out of thin air. Leaning back, she sighed contentedly and tried not to think about the upcoming Ball too much.

When Eliza started to grow bored, she grabbed her wand from her pocket. Not knowing what to do with it, she started practicing some charms, nonverbally. A light bulb appeared, making her hit on the idea of creating light bulbs in every colour she could think of and make some sort of light show for herself.

She made a lot of bubbles, glowing red, blue, green, yellow, white, purple, pink... The next step was making them dance, kind of. Eliza started with bringing all the bubbles in a circle and making them twirl around, but she soon tired of that and made them move in intricate patterns. She was enjoying herself so much, she didn't even notice that she had gathered quite an audience.

Only after Eliza made the light bulbs stop moving, she heard a round of applause behind her. Whirling around, she saw some of her friends, other Ravenclaws and a few younger Hufflepuffs. Feeling her cheeks grow warm, she looked at the ground and tried to hide her embarrassment.

George, apparently feeling sorry for her, stepped up to her.

"Good morning El! That was a beautiful lightshow, I really liked it!"

Smiling up at him in appreciation of his gesture, Eliza whispered her thanks and made the remaining glowing bubbles disappear with a wave of her wand. She pretended not to hear the gasps of surprise, coming from the direction of the Hufflepuffs.

"Shall we go inside?" George asked. Eliza nodded and hooked her arm through his, pulling him with her to the Great Hall for lunch.

* * *

The whole time during lunch the Great Hall buzzed with talks about the Yule Ball and the preparations for it. Even Eliza grew excited for the event, and was looking forward to the evening.

"Lee!" she called, seeing as he was sitting a few places down from her. "At what time and where do we meet?"

"Seven o'clock, at the entrance to Ravenclaw Tower? I'll wait for you there," was his response.

"All right, I'll see you then! Grace, are you finished? We'd better head up to our Common Room, there's only six hours left and you know how Carmen and the others can get."

Grace paled considerably and hurriedly left the Hall, towing Eliza behind her, who waved goodbye to the others half-heartedly.

* * *

After ignoring the calls and cries from Carmen for almost two hours, Grace and Eliza eventually went up to their dormitory, bracing themselves for what they would find there. Eliza was the first one to enter the room, and she was welcomed by a wave of perfume and other sweet-smelling things.

Dodging a stray lipstick that came flying towards her, she stepped into the room and went to her bed. Opening her closet, she grabbed the bag that still contained her dressrobes and held them before her body.

"Eliza, that is a beautiful dress! That colour is perfect for you!"

"Thanks Carmen! I like your dress as well, yellow really suits you," Eliza smiled.

Carmen grinned back at her and disappeared in the bathroom again, presumably to smear more make-up on her face or use magic to enhance her beauty. Eliza just shook her head and started preparing herself as well.

* * *

A few hours later Eliza and Grace finally deemed themselves ready. They had put on their dressrobes and shoes, picked out some jewellery and were perfectly made up.

Grace wore a long silver necklace with crystals, studs in her ears and a beautiful silver bracelet, to emphasize the jewels on her blue dress.

Eliza wore a short necklace with silver threads and a few silver bracelets on her left wrist. She used her wand to cover her hair, in a half up-do, with glitters. She then put a few blue jewels in Grace's hair, to keep it pinned back.

* * *

A little past seven o'clock, all the sixth year Ravenclaw girls went downstairs, one by one. Eliza could hear gasps of surprise and awe downstairs, and smiled before descending herself. Her date didn't wait for her in the Common Room, because he was a Gryffindor, so Eliza crossed over to the exit after seeing Kenneth's reaction to Grace. He couldn't seem to keep his eyes off her, so Eliza was certain Grace would be happy this evening.

When she stepped outside her Common Room, she saw Lee was already waiting for her. He smiled at her in greeting.

"Hi Eliza! You look beautiful," Lee said.

"Thanks Lee! You look very handsome yourself. Do you want to go down now?"  
Lee nodded and together they walked to the Entrance Hall, talking about the Tournament, and dancing. Eliza was surprised that she didn't feel really awkward with Lee, they _were _just going as friends, of course, but she had expected to feel some embarrassment .

Luckily, there was none and the evening promised to be enjoyable.

* * *

**A/N: Once again: I'm very, very, VERY sorry for leaving this story all this time! I've had a very busy year, seeing as it was my last year in school so there were lots of exams... Of course, I've been busy with nice things as well, seeing my friends and stuff :)**

**I don't know if there are still people reading this story, but I certainly hope so! I've already started the next chapter, but I don't promise anything... **

**On to the thank-you's: Annabelleloves, angel2u, Lobo de Fuego, IkutoisSmexy and Black Roses Wilt thank you all for reviewing!**

**And thanks to owhappyday for being my beta, although she didn't beta this chapter, so every mistake is all my doing! :P**

**Thank you for reading and I hope you'll leave a review!**


	20. Of Butterbeers and Balls

Approaching the huge doors Eliza and Lee saw that the champions and their partners were lined up by the door, apparently welcoming everyone. The first thing on the schedule was supper. The Great Hall, beautifully decorated with Christmas trees and covered in a glittering silvery frost, was filled with small tables.

Lee led Eliza to a table near the door, where their other friends were already seated. They greeted everyone and made some remarks about the clothes.

Eliza tried not to look at George and Alicia too much, but she couldn't help but notice that George was looking at her weirdly, seemed to glare at Lee and shared some indescribable looks with Fred. Eliza tried not to give this much attention, and entered the conversation at the table, concerning, naturally, the Triwizard Tournament and its champions.

There was some confusion at their table, because they had no idea where their food would come from. Eventually, George figured it out and then they all ordered their dinner out loud. Eliza ordered the chicken dish and it was delicious.

* * *

Dinner was over really soon, they had such a good time talking and teasing each other that time was flying. Now the time for the real Ball had come, which meant dancing!

Dumbledore asked everyone to stand up and then waved his wand to make all the tables move to the sides. He then conjured up a platform and in came... not other than the Weird Sisters!

"Eliza!" Grace whispered furiously across the table, "Did you know they were coming! The Weird Sisters! I love them _so_ much!"

Eliza smiled at her and then shushed her, while Kenneth looked at her fondly.

_It'll work out with those two, _Eliza thought. _I just hope George and Lee aren't going to murder one another, they've been sending each other deadly gazes during the whole dinner! _

* * *

The champions and their dates entered the improvised dance floor and started to sway to the music. Eliza looked at Harry and saw that he was doing his best not to stumble or stand on his date's toes. She felt sorry for him, but she knew a lot of people present would make much more of a fool of themselves.

Finally their dance ended and other people filled the floor. Eliza turned to Lee.

"Shall we go dance?" she asked him.

"Yes, of course!" he replied, and let her to the floor.

They started to waltz carefully, to make sure they could match the rhythm without stepping on each other's toes. Eventually they matched their steps to the music and waltzed around.

They did this for a few songs in a row, and Eliza felt very happy. She was doing something she loved with one of her best friends and it was a beautiful evening!

* * *

Finally they began to grow tired and Lee escorted her to a table at the side and disappeared to get them some drinks. Eliza sighed as she sat down, resting her tired feet. She looked around at the dancing couples and searched for her friends.

Off to the side of the dance floor she saw Grace and Kenneth. They had apparently giving up dancing and were hugging each other while swaying to the music. Eliza smiled to herself and was very happy for them. It looked like Grace would get her magical evening...

Right in the centre of everyone, she saw Fred and Angelina. They were... dancing in their own way, to say it kindly. A gap of about two feet radius was around them, so no one would get hurt by coming too close to them.

Finally, Eliza found George and Alicia. They were waltzing the way Eliza had taught George, but it didn't look as elegant and supple as she was sure she and George had looked. That thought helped her push down the jealousy that she felt while looking at them. Eliza talked to herself furiously.  
_  
I can't look at George like a love-sick puppy! He asked someone else to the Ball and I have a date as well. It wouldn't be fair to Lee, although I know he likes Alicia. I still wonder why on earth George would ask her when he knows that his friend likes her, but boys will be boys. I just have to let him go and enjoy the evening. _

Lee appeared, holding two Butterbeers.

"Thanks!" Eliza said as he handed one to her.

"You're welcome. Have you seen anyone dancing funny yet?" Lee answered, scanning the dance floor himself.

"No, not beside Fred and Angelina I haven't. But they are about the funniest you can get!"

She pointed them out to Lee and he started to laugh at them. Eliza couldn't help herself and laughed with him and soon they were laughing so hard, everything they said seemed funny.

"And have you... haha... _seen_... Harry and Ron?" Lee asked between laughs.

Eliza looked for them and saw them sitting side by side, their dates sitting next to them, looking angry.

"Those poor girls! They don't even ask them to dance!" Eliza said incredulously.

"No, but I think someone else has asked them," Lee laughed, pointing at the girls who were walking towards two Beauxbatons boys.

"Good for them," Eliza smiled.

Their laughter finally having died out, they downed their Butterbeers and were silent. For the first time that evening, things began to become a bit awkward between them. Lee shifted in his seat and coughed, while Eliza looked away from him out the window at the lights outside.

"So..." Lee said, and Eliza snapped her gaze at him.

"So what?" she asked.

"I don't know," he grinned, "just wondering what we're going to do now."

"Could we go outside? I want to see the lights up close."

"Yeah, sure."

* * *

Eliza and Lee took a walk outside, they looked at the lights, which were actually little fairies, and followed the paths to a fountain.

"Do you think I could make a wish if I throw a Knut in it?" Eliza asked.

"I don't know, you could always try," Lee replied.  
_  
It's nice that he knows what I'm talking about, _Eliza thought. _All my other friends would think I was crazy, but he knows Muggle traditions. _

Eliza nodded and searched for a stray Knut in her handbag. She finally found one and held it in her hand above the water. She closed her eyes and thought: _I wish... I wish this night would become even more magical. _She took a deep breath and let the Knut fall.

"What did you wish for?" Lee asked.

"I can't tell you now, can I?" Eliza teased him. "That would make the wish not come true!"

"Awww, but I won't tell anyone else! Just tell me, please?" he tried his puppy dog eyes on her.

"No, I won't tell you! Now will you please stop looking at me like that?" she smiled.

"All right, all right, I give up! Do you want to go inside again?"

Eliza nodded and they made their way back.

* * *

Once inside, they saw their friends sitting together at a table so they went over to join them.

"Hi!" Fred greeted them as they approached.

"Hello everyone!" Eliza replied, smiling at them as she sat down.

"Where have you been?" George asked in a weird tone. Eliza looked at him questioningly and raised one eyebrow.

"What are you talking about?" Lee put Eliza's expression in words.

"You two were gone for like an hour!" George said.

"We were? That long? I didn't notice," Eliza looked at Lee.

"Neither did I, I thought it was about half an hour," he said.

"That still doesn't answer George's question though. Where _were_ you?" Alicia popped in.

"We were just taking a walk outside, since when has that been illegal?" Something in Alicia's expression made Eliza sound defensive. After all, what could be wrong with just taking a walk together?

"No of course it isn't," Angelina tried to calm everyone down.

Everyone was silent for a while. Eliza tried to figure out why George and Alicia were so overreacting and she stole Fred's Butterbeer while he wasn't looking.

"He!" he protested. "That's mine!"

"No, it _was _yours," Eliza smiled angelically, taking a few sips.

"Oh, you've asked for it!" Fred said and stoop up.

"What are you doing?"

"What do you think! Eliza Weber, do you want to dance with me?"

"Oh! Sure," she smiled. "You don't mind, do you, Lee?"

"Of course I don't. Just go on and dance!"

"Thank you!"

* * *

And so Eliza followed Fred and they started to dance. She quickly figured out that dancing with Fred differed much from dancing with Lee. Where Lee was gently leading her through the steps, Fred messed them up enthusiastically. Eliza became exhausted by trying to keep up with him and making sense of his movements.

Eventually, after about four songs, she gave up and asked Fred if they could go back to their friends. He complied and they sat down again to talk to George and Angelina. Grace and Kenneth had gone outside for a private walk and Lee and Alicia were apparently dancing together somewhere.

"Oooh where are they?" Fred asked, excited.

"I don't know, I don't see them anymore," Angelina responded. "Do you want to come get a drink, Fred?"

"What? Oh, all right. Bye, you two!" Fred said distractedly.

"Bye! Grab us some drinks too, all right?" George called after them, but Eliza wasn't sure if they had heard him.

Now it was just the two of them left. _My evening suddenly has a lot of awkward moments!  
_  
"Are you enjoying yourself so far, George?" Eliza asked him, to break the silence.

"Hm? Oh! Yes, I am. The food was very good! How about you?" George said, not looking Eliza in the eye.

"That's great. I am very much enjoying myself, thanks! I love dancing, as you know," she replied.

"Yes, I know. Haven't you grown tired of it yet?" he asked, looking at her for the first time.

"No, not yet. I am a bit tired, of course, but I still want to dance some more." Eliza grew uncomfortable under his gaze. "What?"

"Sorry, it's just that you look very beautiful. I like your hair this way and your dress really suits you," an embarrassed George told her.

"Thank you," a very much blushing Eliza said, looking everywhere but at him.

"You're welcome. Do you want to dance?" he asked abruptly, making Eliza look at him once more.

"Oh! I'd love to!" she replied, taking his proffered hand and following him to the dance floor.

* * *

They started dancing slowly, swaying a bit to the music. But Eliza became impatient, she wanted to dance! The Ball was almost over so she had to make the most of it. She placed one of her hands on George's arm and grabbed his hand with her other hand. He hesitatingly placed his hand on her waist and they danced faster.

Eliza felt a smile grow on her face. _This is what dancing is supposed to be_, she thought. _Waltzing around in the arms of someone you like..._She allowed herself that last thought, she was enjoying herself too much. Eliza looked up into George's eyes and smiled at him.

"This is nice," she heard herself say.

"Yes, it really is," he replied, letting go of her briefly to twirl her around. Eliza giggled when she ended up back in his arms.

"That was fun!" she laughed.

They smiled at each other and just gazed into each other eyes while dancing for a while longer. Eventually, the lead singer of the Weird Sisters announced the last song of the night and everyone joined the mass of people on the dance floor.

Eliza hadn't even noticed it, but her head was getting closer and closer to George's. Was she doing that or he? She looked into his eyes and saw them flicker down to her lips. She smiled and leaned in even closer. He did as well, and soon enough their lips were touching and Eliza felt a warm glow inside. George pulled her in closer, wrapping his arms around her waist as hers came up to his neck.

They kept kissing until the song ended, then they pulled away. George rested his forehead against hers for a while longer, just looking at her and smiling, a dazed look on his face. Eliza knew she probably looked much the same, but she couldn't help it. _My evening did become even more magical._

"There you are!" they heard someone say loudly and they jumped apart, looking around for the source of the voice. It was Fred, with Angelina, Lee and Alicia behind him.

"We were just heading up, are you coming?"

"Yes, I think so," George said. looking at Eliza questioningly, still a bit red.

"I'm going too, I think Grace is still somewhere with Kenneth," Eliza replied.

"Great! Let's go!" A very hyper Fred said, practically jumping all the way up the stairs. They said goodnight at the end of the stairs where they had to part ways.

"Thanks Lee, I had a wonderful evening," Eliza said to him, hugging him goodbye.

"Goodnight everyone!" She said to the others, her eyes lingering on George for a tad longer. He smiled at her and mouthed 'goodnight' back.

She smiled back and turned around, walking towards Ravenclaw Tower to go to bed and finally get some sleep.

* * *

**A/N: Hi everyone! I've updated again! Quick, isn't it? (A) So... I hope you liked the chapter! We'll just have to wait and see what happens with Eliza and George, won't we? :)**

**So, I'd like to thank Shima Namida, angel2u, IkutoisSmexy, Skeleton Girl 3rd, Galeria, owhappyday, Lobo de Fuego and DMG5440 for reviewing! Thanks a lot :)**

**And thanks to everyone who favourited/alerted as well!**

**And of course owhappyday, for being my beta :)**

**Hope to see you again soon! Please leave a review ;)**


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